Reaching Out to the Girl Scouts

Trick-or-treating wasn't the only thing on one's minds during the Halloween weekend. On October 29th, 2011,SWE-LA Professionals and SWE-UCLA partnered up to volunteer and table at the Girltopia event, an event leading up to the big 100th anniversary of the Girl Scout Foundation. An estimated 12,000 girls attended Girltopia that day at the Los Angeles Convention Center making it one of the most outstanding expositions for young girls. Thousands of girls gathered to have fun, find adventure, speak their minds, and be inspired. Girls of all ages, from kindergarten through 12th grade, were encouraged to explore Leadership, Arts & Culture, Business, Environment, and most relevant to SWE, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). SWE volunteers met thousands of girls and introduced not only them, but their parents as well, to the wonderful world of engineering and the many opportunities it has for them. Children were invited to play a small game, where they were introduced to a few basic concepts regarding circuits. In addition, girls were also invited to partake in the upcoming 2012 WOW, That's Engineering! Day. We can only hope that there will be enough space for all of the girls who expressed interest that day!

Christine DeSario

Outreach Chair