GE Girls, a GE Lighting created and sponsored program designed to
increase girls’ interest and participation in the areas of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics, concluded its yearlong program
at Progressive Field Thursday morning. Participating sixth-grade
students from 15 Northeast Ohio schools came together May 14, 2015, to
celebrate their achievements, participate in the final hands-on activity
with local female leaders and attend the Cleveland Indians afternoon
baseball game.
GE Girls enthusiastically work on final watchtower project at the GE Girls End-of-Year Summit at Progressive Field. (Photo: General Electric)
GE Girls is designed to encourage school girls’ interest in STEM fields,
collaborate with regional, leading business partners and engage students
in ongoing STEM programs and events. Since its inception in 2010, more
than 300 girls have participated in the GE Girls program.
“STEM is an exciting, promising field to pursue, and our girls are
discovering both their love for it and their ability to succeed through
engaging activities,” said Maryrose Sylvester, President & CEO of GE
Lighting. “GE Girls has empowered these young women to reach their full
potential, encouraging them to build their futures around fields of
study with endless opportunity.”
For nearly eight months throughout the 2014-2015 school year, 160 girls
participated in the GE Girls STEM program. Led by GE Volunteers who
visited classrooms monthly, the students worked in teams learning
special lessons in life sciences, electronics, chemistry, computer
science, architecture and physics. Each lesson was essential to solving
the fun, top-secret biofuels mystery.
As part of the concluding event, Sylvester was joined by additional
executive women who lead GE Girls’ partner organizations. The STEM
leadership role model panel included Sylvester; Barbara R. Snyder,
president of Case Western Reserve University; Jane Christyson, CEO of
Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio; and Laura Kepley, artistic director of
the Cleveland Play House.
The panel spoke to the girls about STEM careers and engaged in the
morning’s activities. As the final hands-on activity, the students,
program volunteers and executive women worked together to construct a
marshmallow-supported watchtower and learned the outcome of the yearlong
mystery.
“My favorite parts about the watchtower are building with my friends and
the teamwork,” said Tamia Farris, GE Girls participant and sixth-grade
student at Caledonia Elementary in East Cleveland. “I like how GE Girls
teaches me new things that we don’t learn in regular classes, and we
have fun while learning.”
“I loved building a burglar alarm in one of the sessions and learning
about circuit boards and what makes something work,” added Christina
Troyer, GE Girls participant and sixth-grade student at Carylwood
Intermediate School in Bedford. “GE Girls inspires me to be a
biomechanical engineer when I grow up. I want to study medicine and
design technology to treat illnesses, build nanobots and stuff like
that. I’m going to be the first woman to cure cancer.”
To encourage continued interest in STEM beyond the students’ program
year, GE Girls is designing an alumni program.
About GE Girls @GELVolunteers #GEGirlsCLE
GE Girls is a GE Women's Network initiative to excite and retain
interest of middle school girls in science, technology, engineering and
math, share GE's technology brand and facilitate interactions between
career role models and students. GE Girls at GE Lighting engages 160
sixth-grade students from 15 schools in Northeast Ohio in yearlong,
hands-on, project-based programming. This year's program launched
October 2014 at Case Western Reserve University and is in partnership
with the University and Cleveland Play House. For more information,
visit http://www.gelighting.com/LightingWeb/gegirls/.
About GE Lighting
GE Lighting is changing the way people light and think about their world
in commercial, industrial, municipal and residential settings. Light
brightens our path to a better way of being. Today, light is
intelligent. Light listens, learns and sees. GE. Where Light Is Bright. www.gelighting.com
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