girl scouts of the colonial coast
Katherine has been a Girl Scout for 13 years. She currently attends Smithfield High School. She's been accepted into Virginia Tech's College of Engineering this fall.
For Katherine's project, she set out to teach local kids about STEAM—science, technology, engineering, arts and math—fields. To do that, Katherine created and educational program called "It's a STEAM Party."
Through the hands-on activities and programs she designed, Katherine taught students at schools that don't currently have STEAM-related programs.
"Many opportunities to explore S.T.E.A.M. are available for upper and middle class families in my community," Katherine said. "The same opportunities were not available for children of less fortunate families."
To teach students about STEAM fields and careers, Katherine designed activities such as launching balloon rockets, buildings structures out of various materials and building and launching catapults. Katherine said it made her happy and proud when she could see kids getting excited about learning the science behind each activity.
After Katherine graduates from Smithfield High, her program will be sustained by a local YMCA afterschool program at Hardy Elementary School. The school has committed to continue using Katherine's program for weekly activities.
