Vermont Afterschool is proud to be part of the Million Girls Moonshot initiative, working to inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators by engaging one million more girls in STEM learning opportunities through OST programs over the next five years. The Million Girls Moonshot is an initiative of the STEM Next Opportunity Fund. The Million Girls Moonshot seeks to re-imagine who can engineer, who can build, who can make. See below for some information and resources that can help advance this goal!

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FEATURED WEBINARS

Deep Dive Into Engineering Practices
Presented by: Christine Cunningham & Shannon McManus
This 3-part webinar series takes a deeper dive into the 10 critical features of an engineering mindset. This series is designed specifically for program staff facilitating STEM activities in afterschool.
PART 1, PART 2, PART 3

Role Models Matter Training for STEM Volunteers
Presented by: Techbridge Girls Inc 
In this webinar, participants will explore three strategies for connecting to and preparing role models to work with youth. Strategies will consist of making a connection, talking about your work in age-appropriate ways, and using culturally relevant and youth development practices.
WATCH THE RECORDING

Incorporating STEM Role Models into Afterschool – Strategies, Examples, and Resources
Presented by: Techbridge Girls Inc & National Girls Collaborative Project
In this webinar, participants will discuss strategies, examples, and resources for OST programs looking to bring STEM role models into their programming.
WATCH THE RECORDING

Incorporating STEM Role Models into Afterschool – STEM Role Models in Action
Presented by: Techbridge Girls Inc & National Girls Collaborative Project
In this webinar, participants will discuss examples of incorporating STEM role models into their programming. You’ll hear from OST professionals who have folded STEM role models into their programming, as well as from STEM role models themselves, regarding how they’ve interacted with youth in the past.
WATCH THE RECORDING

TRANSFORMATIVE PROGRAMMING

Equity and Inclusion

• Poster: This Is What A Scientist Looks Like poster featuring Dr. Monica Rho who is the head physician for the US Women’s National Soccer Team. This poster can be used in your physical paces to highlight an inspiring role model in Sports and STEM.
• Article: Black Girls Create: Developing a Culturally Responsive Maker Program for Black Girls article describes the development and pilot implementation of a culturally responsive maker afterschool program for Black girls. 
• Book: Social Justice Reading For Kids : NPR – Looking for summer reading for youth in afterschool? Check out these recommendations from writer Ibram X. Kendi.

Engineering Mindsets

• Poster: Engineering Mindset Graphic – This printable graphic presents the 10 critical engineering practices and shows how they all contribute to the development of an engineering mindset.
• Article: What STEM Mindset Is … and Why Everyone Should Have One – This article describes how 21st century skills, growth mindset, and habits of mind all contribute to a STEM mindset
• Website: DiscoverE | Engineering activities for kids, resources for teachers and volunteers, and more! Build a beverage holder that won’t hurt the environment, learn about the many careers in engineering, and meet an engineering role model in a short video. 

Incorporating Role Models

• IF/THEN Collection: The IF/THEN Collection is the largest free resource of its kind dedicated to increasing access to authentic and relatable images of real women in STEM. In this library, you’ll find thousands of photos, videos, and other assets that authentically represent women in careers as diverse as shark tagging, fashion design, and training Olympic athletes, including videos that highlight women in STEM who work with top US Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
• Article: Educational Justice Starts with Equitable Family Engagement by Riddhi Divanji, Ella Shahn, and Sydney Parker – Designing surveys and sharing data with a wide range of stakeholders results in a deeper understanding of the data from multiple perspectives.
• Article: ‘I’m not just a mom’: Parents as creators, collaborators, and learners in creative computing by Ricarose Roque – Social support from parents can play an important role in engaging and sustaining young people’s participation in computing. The authors identified many supportive roles for parents, including collaborating with their children on projects, providing resources, and finding new opportunities. 
• Webinar Recording: Listen, Learn, Lead Webinar by Flamboyan Foundation – Speakers discuss what they are hearing through their ongoing work with families, particularly their Black and Brown families facing the intersecting crises of racism and COVID-19.

ACTIVITIES FOR PROGRAMS

• Student Design Activity: NASA’s Favorite House Plants for Space Stations and You – The Grow Network : The Grow Network – Select a plant to grow and keep a record of its change over time. Design a flowerpot for space—what shape works best? How deep does it need to be? What do scientists need to consider to grow plants in space? 
• Student Design Activity: Design A Crew Module – Use materials that are easy to find at home to build a crew capsule for spaceflight. Practice engineering design process to improve on the original design. Grades 4-8. 
• Student Design Activity: Straw Towers to the Moon – Let your kids’ imaginations run wild.  Build the biggest tower, or the best balanced, or the most attractive…change the criteria to change the design. Grades K-8. 
• Student Design Activity: Landing Humans on the Moon Educator Guide – These easy to do activities for grades K-8 use engineering design process to problem-solve solutions for survival on the moon. 
• Student Design Activity: Be “Cool” with Popsicle Engineering – Students learn the design process using easy to find materials (for example, popsicle sticks and KoolAid) to produce purple popsicles.  Perfect for a summer day with young kids!
• Free App: The Mizzen By Mott app delivers inspiring and engaging activities that spark learning in young people. Supported by the Mott Foundation, Mizzen is available at no cost to afterschool professionals! Download the Mizzen By Mott app to access high-quality, vetted STEM activities at your fingertips. You’ll find it in Mizzen here.