‘Dream Big About Their Future’

By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
WINDSOR, Vt. — Rosie’s Girls Invent, a STEM forward camp for young girls and gender expansive youth alike, has come to Windsor, Vermont. The camp will be held on site at the American Precision Museum once a week until August 23rd and aims to teach young people skills in STEM fields, engineering, and also socio-emotional skills to help propel them to success.

The American Precision Museum has partnered with Vermont Works for Women, as well as the University of New Hampshire’s Young Inventor Program. The museum staff had already formed a relationship with Vermont Works for Women, the parent organization for Rosie’s Girls Invent, and were a perfect fit for a site that was aligned with their mission. Having had STEM camps at the American Precision Museum in previous years, they had not done one with a focus on girls or inventing.

“Well, what is really kind of nice about the program is that when we considered taking on the program, there was a concern because we are a fairly small museum. Luckily, Rosie’s Girls Invent already has their own curriculum so that gives us more room to focus on the teaching aspect,” said American Precision Museum’s Associate Executive Director Alice Cable.

Cable acknowledged that middle school is around the age that young people, particularly girls, lose their confidence in STEM fields. It was because of this that the museum was excited to host the camp and help build what VWFW refer to as “power skills.”

Building that confidence in young people is a large part of the model and curriculum for Rosie’s Girls Invent, and includes opportunities like role playing games, in which young people are taught to advocate for themselves in typically male dominated fields. They also aim to, “inspire new friendships, and encourage youth to dream big about their future.”

Cable, who has been with the American Precision Museum for three years and has six years experience running STEM camps, will be one of the onsite staff helping kids in their educational journey.

Young people attending the camp will be encouraged and inspired to create an invention of their own. The inventions will be based on helping people with an everyday problem they see in the world, big or small. Cable’s daughter, who is a participant in the program, has already begun her designs for an “anti-fidget pen”. At the end of the program, the young inventors will be able to present a model of their invention at the Henry Ford Museum.

The camp’s first session has already begun, but the folks at the American Precision Museum encourage anyone that is interested to sign up, and they look forward to catching young people up on the curriculum.

The camp takes place at 196 Main Street in Windsor. The hours are from 5:30 to 7:30 PM, once a week, for seven weeks. Anyone interested is encouraged to come and visit the museum or follow them on social media. The museum also intends to add a fall cohort to the program, with a more co-ed focus in either September or October.