In the Community

Orlando Science Center creates STEM opportunities for local Girl Scouts

Innovation is a collaborative process. The best ideas, inventions, and discoveries are not created by a single person, but rather by a group of people with diverse thoughts, backgrounds, and experiences. This is one of the many reasons diverse representation in the STEM workforce is crucial to us all. Although there has been progress over the years, women are still vastly underrepresented in most STEM careers.

At Orlando Science Center, we strive to create prosperity in our community that enhances lives. Working towards gender equity is a crucial step in achieving this goal, including exciting new initiatives like our funded STEM Explorers program, which provided engaging STEM opportunities for Girl Scouts!

As a recent recipient of the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP)’s IF/THEN Gender Equity Grant, we found opportunities to address this issue head-on with our STEM Explorers program. To help inspire change and bring about opportunities for access and representation in STEM, NGCP created the IF/THEN program “to bring together organizations throughout the United States that are committed to informing and encouraging girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics" (STEM). The STEM Explorers Program provided Girl Scout troops in Grades K-8 with opportunities to visit the Science Center. They experienced hands-on STEM discovery labs, allowing the girls to learn about incredible female scientists (IF/THEN Ambassadors), gain relevant career exposure, and cultivate 21st-Century skills, such as collaboration and problem-solving.

Troops were also given customized Exploration Guides, created by the Orlando Science Center education team in collaboration with the Girl Scouts of Citrus, to lead them through interactive exhibits. As the girls explored the Science Center, they worked to earn Girl Scout Badges aligned to focus areas such as math, science, and nature.

Neighborhood Science Launches at Grand Avenue

With the demand for STEM careers on the rise throughout Florida and an intense underrepresentation of women and people of color in STEM fields across the country, Orlando Science Center is joining the efforts to break down barriers and revitalize STEM education in our community through a new communitybased program called Neighborhood Science. Neighborhood Science will directly serve underrepresented Central Florida youth through consistent and engaging STEM educational programming.

This summer, we began offering programming in the City of Orlando’s brand-new Grand Avenue Neighborhood Center (Grand Ave). It is a newly renovated facility that serves as a hub for more than 17 community centers as a vital part of the City of Orlando’s Families, Parks, & Recreation Department. We are honored to be part of this city-wide collaborative model to provide yearround recreational, environmental, and educational programs for more than 11,000 youth from low-income families across Orlando.

We look forward to filling our dedicated space in Grand Ave with technology and resources for the members of our community who most need access to crucial educational experiences. Neighborhood Science programming will also serve a second location, Bradley and Clarence Otis Branch of the Boys & Girls Club beginning in September. STEM education programs in low-income communities are crucial to providing employment pathways and economic mobility.

This high-impact, transformational project will amplify our efficacy by providing more frequent and long-term, authentic STEM learning experiences. Neighborhood Science will support afterschool programs and community centers identified by our community partners and local government officials as being in distressed communities that lack access to quality STEM experiences.