- 7th and 8th-grade girls from Owyhee Combined School visit the Discovery Center of Idaho.
- Students learned about STEM and how it applies to everyday life.
- This is the first time the Micron Foundation has hosted a tribal Girls Going Tech.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
Girls Going Tech. More and more women are working in STEM-related careers, and here at the Discovery Center of Idaho, The Micron Foundation is giving girls the pieces they need to be successful in the STEM field.
“My favorite thing would be just learning new things and being open to things,” says Precious Sabori, a 7th grader at Owyhee Combined School, in Duck Valley.
On Tuesday morning, March 12th, around twenty girls from Owyhee Combined School on the Duck Valley Reservation traveled to Boise for some hands-on experiences with STEM and tech.
It's an important moment for a traditionally underserved group.
Kami Faylor, Director of Strategy & Operations, for the Micron Foundation, says, "This is the first time where we're really focusing in on the population to make sure they have as much opportunity as possible. So through a partnership with the discovery center, we are bringing indigenous students up from Duck Valley.”
The student's day began with smiles, nametags, and goodie bags and then it was time for some tech.
Paisley Crutcher, a seventh grader at Owyhee combined school says, "I had the chemistry we made some solutions together and we drew.”
As part of the STEM learning experience, the 7th and 8th graders built robots, learned about chemistry, and even got to experience virtual reality.
“It’s different! I recommend it for a lot of people that are into STEM or even not into STEM too because it’s just things you get to learn different things,” says Precious Sabori.
Programs like Girls Going Tech are important, especially when you consider that according to the National Science Foundation, in 2021 women only made up 35% of the STEM field.
Girls Going Tech and similar opportunities are raising that number through education and accessibility.
Faylor says, “We're able to really reach out and bring those girls into Boise and just broaden their horizons and make sure they know that they can be a part of one of these great careers. Even if it's not a career that they see every day in their community.”
Girls Going Tech started in 2008, but this is the first Tribal Girls Going Tech, hosted by the Micron Foundation.
