Girls in Grades 4 through 8 Invited to Learn About STEM Opportunities at TEC-SMART Event on Saturday, March 12
March 7, 2016
Girls in the fourth to eighth grades are invited to the fourth annual Girls in STEM, a free educational event featuring hands-on workshops designed to illustrate the fun side of science and technology. Workshop sessions will be mentored by women leaders and educators in STEM professions.
The program runs from 8:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, March 12 at Hudson Valley Community College's TEC-SMART extension center at 345 Hermes Road in Malta.
The goal of this innovative program is to expose upper elementary- and middle-school girls to the educational and career opportunities open in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, while also showing them STEM learning can be fun and exciting.
Girls in STEM is sponsored by the Center for Economic Growth, GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Hudson Valley Community College, with additional sponsorship from Girls Inc., Key Bank and Walrath Recruiting.
Hands-on workshops at the event will be run by the Ballston Spa Central School District's Clean Technologies & Sustainable Industries Early College High School, CS Arch Architecture and Construction Management, General Electric, Girl Scouts, the Museum of Innovation and Science, National Grid, SUNY Poly Children's Museum of Science and Technology, the Traveling Museum and WMHT.
Pre-registration is requested for this event. An afternoon workshop event sponsored by GLOBALFOUNDRIES, called "GLOBALGirls" has already reached capacity.
Also on Saturday morning, March 12, from 10 a.m. to noon, TEC-SMART will be hosting an open house and information sessions about programs and courses offered at the facility. Visitors will receive tours of the facility and information sessions will focus on two new academic degree programs offered by the college — Mechatronics and Clean Energy Management.
Regional job growth is steadily headed into occupations that require STEM education, and that trend is expected to continue for at least five more years, according to the New York State Department of Labor.
"Strengthening our region's workforce through education, technical career awareness activities and skills training is critical for a prosperous, growing economy. Some of New York State's Capital Region's fastest growing occupations are in the high-tech and advanced manufacturing fields," said Michael Hickey, Interim President and CEO, Center for Economic Growth. "These fields require foundational STEM knowledge and the critical thinking and problem solving skills that come with an integrated STEM education. CEG is proud to take a lead role in this important initiative that prepares and inspires girls to succeed in careers that will need filling when they graduate."
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Founded in 1953, Hudson Valley Community College offers more than 80 associate degree and certificate programs in four schools: Business; Engineering and Industrial Technologies; Health Sciences; and Liberal Arts and Sciences; and an Educational Opportunity Center for academic and career training. One of 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system, it has an enrollment of nearly 12,000 students, and is known as a leader in distance learning initiatives and workforce training. Hudson Valley has more than 75,000 alumni.