In celebration of Women’s History Month, members of the Women in Stem club made major strides in defying the labels being placed on young women today in the realm of math and science.
The club originated in 2017 when PVHS teacher Megan Bildner was in search of getting more girls interested in STEM. Bildner asked PVHS student Jenna Aller if she would be interested in starting the Women in Stem in club due to Aller’s background. She was involved in both engineering classes and the girls coding team, led by Chris Cournoyer.
Aller wanted more girls to be interested and exposed to the different fields in STEM. “I was passionate in starting it because I wanted more girls here at PV to take more STEM classes due to the small size of girls being in the classes here, such as engineering,” she said. This exposure allowed young girls the freedom to learn more about STEM careers before entering college.
The Women in Stem club meets monthly, and consists of skype calls or actual visits of women coming in to talk about their experiences with careers in the STEM field. The club also hosts “Hour of Code” every early-out at the PV elementary schools, where they teach coding to both girl and boy elementary school students.
The members of the club teach the elementary students how to code in fun ways through popular entertainment such as Minecraft, Frozen, Star Wars, and many more. Senior Danielle Waldron believes that having the “Hour of Code” allows younger students to be exposed to something new.
“I strongly believe the ‘Hour of Code’ events our club hosts are beneficial to elementary students because at their age, they’re beginning to learn about what they might want to do as they get older,” Waldron said. “In giving them the opportunity to learn more about different STEM careers, they can begin to look for a career within those fields.”
The Women in Stem club received recognition at the Fall 2017 school board meeting for their work with the “Hour of Code” activities for the elementary kids; this was a great achievement for the club.
Waldron emphasizes the major impact the Women in Stem club has made on the community as a whole. “The fact that we are able to make a place for girls and students in general to come together, make connections over our passion for STEM, and help spread that throughout the community is a major achievement for sure,” she said.
