Girls see out STEM program

STUDENTS involved with Ballarat Tech School’s annual Girls in STEM initiative concluded this year’s program with a robot building workshop last week.

Taking place last Thursday, the event concluded four terms’ worth of activities with 60 year 8 and 9 girls across 14 regional schools taking part.

The event saw groups of three students each building a cardboard robot which culminated in a robot parade before a showcase event with guest speakers and industry presenters.

Ballarat Tech School STEM pathways and partnerships manager Kirstyn Hall said this year’s Girls in STEM offering marked another successful program following nearly a decade of delivery.

“No two girls in our groups are from the same school across our activities,” she said.

“They’ve made friends with girls they’d not normally meet. It’s about networking, for young people interested in this sort of thing.

“What we’re showing them for our showcase night is if you’ve loved what you’re doing now, here’s the next steps with things like our Seed to STEM program and we’re introducing an engineering academy next year.”

The year of activities also featured drone flying, a treasure hunt and a trip to a waste water treatment plant, with each initiative supported by an industry partner.

Local institutions like Phoenix College and Damascus College, as well as schools as far as Ararat, Lake Bolac and Daylesford were among those participating.

Damascus College’s Isabella was one of several young students who took part in last year’s program and returned for this year for a leadership program.

“I really like how you get to see behind the scenes of what you did last year and you can help with improvements on how things were done last year,” she said.

“The role is about watching over the girls and offering help and seeing how we can improve the program and giving our ideas to the staff here.

“We also run some of the sessions. In term one and two, we did a lot of introduction work and activities. We also get opportunities for other programs like work experience.”

The conclusion of the girls’ program will be mirrored next week with the wrapping up of this year’s inaugural Boys in STEM initiative, which will consist of the same schedule.