NCGS Celebrates Engineers Week

Online Resources, In-Person Events and Classroom Tools Are Designed To Propel Girls' Achievement In Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

02/19/2008

Concord, Massachusetts -- The National Coalition of Girls' Schools, its member schools and its supporters are marking National Engineers Week with new web-based resources, in-person events and classroom tools designed to propel girls' achievement in science, technology, andgineering and math.

"All children are scientists at heart, and sustaining and nurturing that interest has implications for our nation as a whole," said NCGS Co-Executive Directors Whitney Ransome and Meg Milne Moulton in a joint statement. "Girls and young women can achieve great things in these fields when opportunities exist, when teaching methods are geared to their strengths, when resources, role models and mentors abound, and when expectations are set high."

Engineers Week, organized by the National Engineers Week Foundation, takes place all this week, February 17-23. To celebrate the event, NCGS and its supporters are pleased to announce:

1.  New "STEM" Website (www.ncgs.org/stem)

Girls' schools have long been leaders in promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Math for young women. And today, these fields -- known by the acronym "STEM" -- are more crucial than ever before. That's why NCGS has created an entire website-within-a-website devoted to STEM learning and achievement. With classroom tools for teachers... fun sites and inspiring stories for students... and even advice and guidance for parents, ncgs.org/stem is designed to be a vibrant, always-growing resource for everyone devoted to educational excellence for girls and young women. Created with the support of Google Inc. and The Margaret Hall Foundation, the NCGS STEM site offers lesson plans, profiles of women scientists, and ideas for encouraging girls' achievement.

2.  Google's "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day" Events

NCGS is once again teaming up with Google Inc., a leader in Internet search engine technology, to encourage girls and young women to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. On February 21, girls from NCGS schools will meet with engineers, conduct experiments and tour the labs at Google campuses in Mountain View, CA, Seattle/Kirkland and New York City. The events are part of the "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day" organized by the National Engineers Week Foundation, and each year Google invites girls and young women from a diverse array of schools and organizations to learn how fun, rewarding and world-changing a career in engineering can be.

3.  JETS Classroom Kit

The Junior Engineering Technology Society (JETS), with the support of the Motorola Foundation's Innovation Generation Grant, has provided NCGS member schools with classroom kits packed with learning materials. Among the items: curriculum development tools; DVD's and software; engineering competition invitations; and more.

About NCGS

NCGS is the leading expert on single-sex education for girls, representing all-girl schools across the United States plus international members and affiliates in Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Our member schools reflect the full diversity of today's educational landscape: private, public, and charter... day and boarding... urban, suburban and rural... big and small. In the U.S. alone, nearly 54,000 girls and young women attend NCGS member schools. On the web: www.ncgs.org. Media contact: Carolyn Colletti, (978) 368-9086 or carolyncolletti@ncgs.org.