New Girl Scouts STEM center is building confidence and skills
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The new AEP Foundation STEM Leadership Center, on the Battelle Science & Innovation Campus at Camp Ken-Jockety. Photos: Courtesy of Girl Scouts of Ohio's Heartland
A new facility is introducing local girls to cutting-edge careers, from robotics and environmental sciences to astronomy and architecture.
Why it matters: Though mostly known for selling cookies, Girl Scouts do much more than that.
- The AEP Foundation STEM Leadership Center is helping scouts build confidence in science, technology, engineering and math, while also building awareness as a community gathering space.
Between the lines: Women make up only a third of the country's STEM workforce, and occupy far fewer leadership roles, per the National Science Foundation.
- Many girls' confidence plummets as they experience puberty, research suggests — and that doubt can carry into adulthood, discouraging them from entering spaces where they're underrepresented.
What they're saying: "If you say to a girl, 'What does a scientist look like?' she can tell you, but often, it doesn't look like her," Tammy Wharton, president and CEO of Girl Scouts of Ohio's Heartland, tells Axios.
- "We want girls to know everything that's out there, and that's what this whole facility is about."
Driving the news: Wharton gave Axios a tour of the 25,000-square-foot center, which opened last month following a $14 million fundraising campaign.
- It's at Camp Ken-Jockety, a 220-acre property on the Big Darby Creek in Galloway, about a 15-minute drive west of Columbus that also includes an environmental center.
- Soon community members will be able to pay to rent space in the facility.
Zoom in: The local council has over 1,000 troops representing about 14,000 girls that can arrange to use the center.
- Classrooms are flexible spaces, capable of accommodating equipment such as drills, saws, welding machines and even an entire car, for maintenance lessons.
- The building also offers smaller meeting rooms, a large banquet hall and ample outside access, due to the nearby Darby Creek wetlands.
- Girls may gather water samples, for example, to study under microscopes, or learn how to use a 3D printer to make a doll house.
Fun fact: Girl Scouts has offered STEM programs since an electrician's badge debuted in 1916.
- "This is just the next iteration of it, in a big way," Wharton says.
Follow the money: Fundraising continues for the "Dream Big" project's final $2 million, which will pay for more classroom equipment.
What's next: The center hosts State of the Girl on March 4, a community conversation spotlighting critical issues affecting Ohio's girls ($25).
- Plus: Visit the council's Maple Syrup Festival on March 22 and learn to tap trees and tour the center yourself ($15).
💭 Alissa's thought bubble: I never was a Girl Scout — but if childhood me knew this is what it was about, I would have been. Stepping into this space immediately made me excited.
🍪 Vote in our poll: Which Girl Scout cookie is best?
