Nearly 100 high school girls from the Fox Valley area gather at Plexus in Neenah for the 2023 Smart Girls Rock! event, Nov. 1, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
NEENAH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — An annual event in the Fox Valley is hoping to inspire more young women to engage in local STEM programs.
Smart Girls Rock! is bringing in nearly 100 area high schoolers to try their hands at new skills, and is giving them a look at the available STEM careers in Northeast Wisconsin.
‘STEM’ stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
“I want to be a surgeon,” said Becca Wait.
“I just want to do something with nutrition,” said Brooke Woods.
Wait and Woods are sophomores at Freedom High School.
“They picked the five girls in our grade with the highest science score on the pre-ACT and the highest GPA, so we were kind of chosen and then we just accepted and thought it would be kind of cool,” said Wait.
This year’s event is hosted by Plexus in Neenah. A dozen businesses took part where they created one of a kind, hands-on experiences.
For more information about Smart Girls Rock!, click here.
“It’s all about education for us and inspiring young women in education to pursue fields in science, technology, engineering or mathematics,” said Kristine Groholski, Senior Director of Brand Experience at Plexus.
Groholski says the company’s table is all about mentoring students through an engineering design process.
“They’re building these little cars, propel cars and walking through the steps and really having to think through how to build that and it’s all rooted back into Newton’s Law of Motion,” she said.
When it comes to events like Smart Girls Rock!, both Wait and Woods say attending has helped them solidify their choice in a STEM career.
“Just like seeing that there are girls doing it, that can do it just as well as anyone else,” said Wait.
“I think it’s important to see mentors that can do the same thing that you’re looking into,” said Woods.
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