Charleston County School District, SC Stories of CCSD, 17 Jan 2018

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From YouTube: Empowering Women Through Stem - Stories of CCSD

Description

Scholars throughout Charleston County School District had a special opportunity recently as they spoke with a pair of students representing the Women's Initiative at M.I.T. Our own Andy Pruitt attended the visit to Moultrie Middle School. In the latest chapter of our Stories of CCSD, he describes how the Women in Charge program there benefitted from their interaction with the ladies from one of the top universities in the country.

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At first that might not seem like a productive learning environment. However, if you take a closer look at this experience for students in a science classroom at Moultrie middle school, you will see this is setting up scholars for the future. Millie Beth Currie is one of four teachers who lead women in charge at Moultrie. The after-school program which has been around for 17 years. There encourages female students to embrace science, technology, engineering and math or stem and empowers them to be more involved and confident in every class. They take girl.

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That in early adolescence, if they're, really verbal and attentive and pushed to know the answers in elementary school when they hit around between sixth and seventh grade many of them, not all, but many of them dip and their activity of asking questions. Improving for understanding and same way would wait. I, don't understand to.

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Be here learning everything else that men and boys can do. It's really empowering to know that everybody else agrees and knows how difficult and how hard it is just to come here, but having people around you that support. You is very important to me. Women.

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In charge received a boost last week, thanks to a visit from two students from MIT, Jenna, Aronson and Alisha Wang, they are part of the Women's Initiative at the elite research university. They encouraged the same principles as women in charge. My.

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Purpose in being here is to reach out and inspire young girls to consider futures in stem, because there really aren't enough, you know inspiring role models, and you know mentors for these girls and or there might be a problem of matching them. You know with the resources that actually are available. The.

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Highlight of the experience was building catapults out of the materials, Aaronson and wing provided collaboration, and accepting failure were two of the practical applications from the hands-on portion of the event. It's.

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Just so important for these girls to learn to think outside the box to to be creative to problem-solve, to you know, approach a task that doesn't have any instructions figure out how to do it and you know, maybe not be entirely satisfied with their first go at it and try again, but.

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With the stim approach, it's a different mindset, it's they're chasing something you don't understand and you just keep revamping and it you give yourself permission to not be perfect. Just to keep trying science.

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Is all about trial and error and seeing what worked and what didn't and fixing that so that you can come to an overall success.

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Seeing the teamwork and the collision between the two were really cool to watch and to participate in the pressure as.

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You can see this is a really fun way to show these students what it's like to get into stim related fields, but it's more important to that. It's also about breaking down stereotypes and showcasing how students need to prepare themselves as they move along their educational paths. First.

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Of all standing in front of the girls and showing them look, this is what women in stem look like. We are not the stereotypes that you see in the media, necessarily if we are that's cool too, but you know we come in all sizes and shapes, and you know interests and we're not stuck in a lab. We we have, you know normal lives, they.

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Need to have this exposure in middle school, so they're starting to think and they're being proactive when they're entering high school if they enter high school. Knowing I need these types of courses, no matter what my goal is: they're gonna be asking at registration. How do I fit in the project lead the way class at this high school or etc said or whatever courses they offer they're looking for those opportunities, if they aren't looking they're not going to take them. The.

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Scholars at Moultrie also appreciated what the MIT students shared when it came to stem applying to other career fields such as economics and the fact they were willing to travel from Massachusetts to share their knowledge and life experiences. It's.

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Not just natural sciences and chemistry, there's also like learning about people's ions I have.

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A brother with autism, so the science definitely can help me out with understanding like the possibilities he has or anything he can do outside of school I.

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Really love that you're, incorporating pre and Nehring courses into the curriculum and to be honest, I wish that I had had those opportunities, so I think you're doing a really excellent job. Moultrie.

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Middle wasn't the only school to benefit from the Women's Initiative Aronson and Wang also worked with students at our be stall, high academic, magnet, High and Lange middle later. In the week, the.

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Mit program is unique because it allows school districts that don't have the funding necessarily to fly people in from far away. It really were able to benefit from it and from their knowledge, because they're willing to travel all over the United States and help students at this age at middle school and high school today,.

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Was a time for us to shine and learn about all the options that we have, because we can do it thanks.

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To this experience, who knows maybe years from now a Charleston County, School District graduate will be part of the women's initiative at MIT and will share their love of stem with students back here or somewhere else in the country and Mount Pleasant for the stories of CCSD I'm Andy Pruitt.