Baker librarian hosts STEM camp for girls

By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

The tween years are a tough time for just about anybody, but for girls, navigating school, social media and the changes of adolescence can be especially difficult.

To help girls shore up their confidence during these challenging years, Baker High School Teacher Librarian Leslie Cartier is hosting a session of the GEMS Club summer camp at the end of this month.

GEMS, which stands for Girls Excelling in Math and Science, was founded in 1994 to encourage young women’s interest and skills in the fields of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math). Cartier said this is the third year the camp has been offered.

Girls entering grades four through seven can learn coding, graphic design and video production from guest female mentors. Their final projects — tote bags and light-up greeting cards — will be available for sale at Café at 407 in Liverpool. The proceeds will benefit Ophelia’s Place, which promotes body positivity and offers services for people with eating disorders.

“To have a social justice or social action component is really powerful for girls,” Cartier said. “It shows the girls the importance of giving back to their community.”

Entering the adolescent years can shake a girl’s confidence both at school and in her own skin.

“The focus is STEAM and STEM skills, but there’s also going to be a mental health component with body positivity,” Cartier said.

According to the Mayo Clinic, girls can develop a negative body image when they experience the natural body changes of puberty, are exposed to unrealistic beauty ideals promoted by mass media and endure judgment and comparison by their peers, especially via social media.

“I think it’s so much harder for girls and women when we have these social messages pouring in from typical outlets such as television and magazines,” Cartier said. “[Positive] messaging is really, really powerful and we don’t see enough of it.”

Cartier said the project will help other local women and girls and imbue campers with their own sense of self-worth.

“You accept your body no matter what stage of life or age you’re in,” she said. “Your self-worth isn’t defined by your physical shape or body type.”

Not only can a girl’s self-esteem suffer during adolescence, but she might start to change her focus at school.

Often, girls show an interest in STEM at a young age, but lose interest later on. According to the Girl Scout Research Institute’s “Generation STEM” report from 2012, gender stereotypes and social pressure discourage girls from pursuing an interest in STEM. “It is possible that girls are internalizing this stereotype and talking themselves out of achieving in math and science when, in reality, they are doing just as well or better than boys,” the report reads.

Fortunately, young women in STEM are rallying. The Girl Scouts’ report said that 74 percent of teen girls are “somewhat” or “very” interested in STEM.

The GEMS Summer Camp fuses the concepts of body positivity and boosting STEAM skills. Girls will have to learn technical skills, work collaboratively and pay attention to the message of self-acceptance that Ophelia’s Place promotes.

The first component of the project is creating a light-up greeting card with paper circuits.

“They’ll have to design the circuits themselves and come up with a message of positivity,” Cartier said.

Also on the coding front, the girls will learn to program a robot to travel through a map of the digestive system, which will be laid out on the floor.

“They’ll have to learn to navigate the tract and learn about the organs and make the robots light up at different organs,” Cartier said.

A graphic designer will visit the camp to show the girls what goes into creating visual art and making their vision come to life. The girls’ designs will be printed on canvas tote bags.

Finally, the girls will learn how to promote their products. Debbie Rolf, a New York City-based videographer whose resume includes TED Talks, NBC News and the Tribeca Film Festival, will teach the campers the basics of video production and editing. Then, they’ll create a commercial ahead of the project open house, which takes place Aug. 14 at Café at 407.

While it will be exciting for the girls to show off their wares and share their achievements with their families, Cartier said the camp ultimately can empower girls to pursue success in a male-dominated field.

“I really think they walk away with a larger comfort level in computer programming, coding, engineering. They learn from guest mentors in the field and they do hands-on projects with those guest mentors,” she said. “The whole concept of STEM and STEAM topics become less intimidating to them. … They can walk up and say, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve got this.’”