Girls Focus on Science, Math, Technology With Support of USA Funds

A grant from USA Funds^® is turning Indianapolis girls’ attention to science, math and technology. USA Funds recently awarded $30,000 to Girls Incorporated of Indianapolis in support of the organization’s Operation SMART program. Operation SMART — Science, Math and Relevant Technology — helps build an interest in science, math and technology for girls age 6-18. Girls involved in the program learn about these subjects and participate in hands-on activities that give girls the opportunity to explore, ask questions and solve problems in a girl-only setting.

Since 1969 Girls Inc. has worked to improve the lives of girls in Indianapolis and throughout Central Indiana. Operation SMART is one of many curriculums Girls Inc. offers to meet the organization’s mission of “inspiring all girls to be strong, smart and bold.” Operation SMART builds on the fundamentals taught in the classroom and aims to pique the curiosity of girls outside the classroom. Programs are in line with the math, science and technology standards to which schools must adhere.

Operation SMART participants learn about the human anatomy by performing “surgery” on an anatomically correct doll, learn math through fun games, and use chemistry and develop research techniques through activities in mock crime labs. According to Girls Inc., studies show that girls who are overly protected in the lab or on the playground have few chances to assess risk and solve problems on their own. With the results of those studies in mind, Girls Inc. encourages participants to return to the drawing board to address mistakes as they would hypotheses in experiments.

After participating in an Operation SMART science activity, one 10-year-old participant said, “I never thought about the science of Jell-O before. I guess I never realized that it’s a solid and a liquid. Also, when we used magnets to pull iron specks out of cereal, there were a lot of ‘wows.’ When we took glue, water and Borax powder to make rubber, I heard one girl say, ‘How could this all make rubber? I thought rubber took plastic!’”

Operation SMART also exposes girls to science and technology careers and strong female role models by offering career fairs, guest speakers and mentors.

Operation SMART is made up of four program components, including the following: 

• She’s TechKnow, which helps to increase and maintain girls’ interest in technology and prepare them for a technology-filled future.
• Lunch Bunch, which brings together community leaders and mentors from nontraditional careers for one-hour lunch sessions.
• Girls Get the Message, which teaches girls to be discriminating consumers in a media-filled world.
• She’s on the Money, which teaches economic literacy, including budgeting and investing.

Girls Inc. outreach sites are located throughout Indianapolis, but many of the girls served face some of the toughest economic challenges in the state. Many of the neighborhoods served have soaring rates of crime, alcohol and drug abuse; teen pregnancy; latchkey children; and youth gang activities. All Girls Inc. of Indianapolis programs are subsidized, and grant funding and individual donations help defray the costs so that all girls are welcome to participate in Girls Inc.
 
“We are very fortunate to have partners such as USA Funds that value education and empowerment,” says Alison Schumacher, Girls Inc. of Indianapolis director of development. “We are able to reach girls and introduce them to activities and programs they otherwise might not have the opportunity to experience and truly make a difference in their lives.”

Girls Inc. notes that research shows that adults typically expect girls not to perform as well as boys in science, math and technology, regardless of their true potential or demonstrated ability. In the United States, the percentage of female students in engineering, computer science and related fields has fallen from 36 percent to 20 percent in the last two decades. Additionally, from 1996 to 2002, the percentage of women in the technological work force fell from 41 percent to 35 percent.

“The work done by the Girls Inc. Operation SMART program is a worthwhile investment,” says Pat Roe, USA Funds assistant to the president. “The programs expose girls to careers and education options, and they receive the tools to become successful in fields that traditionally have been male-dominated.”

In 2005 Girls Inc. Operation SMART educated more than 1,300 girls in more than 60 outreach program sites throughout the Indianapolis area.