Project Exploration Blog

Noelani is the youngest of the girls, explaining to her mom all the fun she plans to have.

Mariama shares a smile with Jameela during the orientation.

With the summer now in full swing, Project Exploration is excited to begin field programs with our students. This month, nine middle and high school young women embark on the All Girls Expedition, a two-week science and leadership program where students work alongside scientists in Chicago and Yellowstone National Park. This year, students will be studying Yellowstone’s unique geology, thermal features (like Old Faithful!), extreme water environments, and wildlife.

The All Girls Expedition kicked-off on Wednesday, July 7 with an orientation for students and their parents. It was a great opportunity for Project Exploration and the All Girls Expedition team members to meet one another and get excited for the program.

To tell us more about the orientation, we have our very own Project Exploration correspondent, Jasmine Fleming. Jasmine is a junior at Dr. Martin Luther King College Preparatory High School and has been participating in Project Exploration programs since middle school. Jasmine has been a team member of the All Girls Expedition twice – once as a team leader! In her words, here is what Jasmine had to say about this year’s All Girls Expedition orientation:

One could tell that the girls were full of anticipation and becoming anxious. Some with faces ready to learn, others that had never even been away from home. But none the-less smiles glowed because they all knew they were ready to try new things. As Jameela asked them to state their names and what they were looking forward to the most, “exploring wildlife” was the most common answer.

Looking forward to things that they wouldn’t normally see in Chicago was exciting to them all. Parents had very few questions knowing their children were in good hands.

And right before orientation ended “It is important to step out of the box in different ways to contribute to the outside world. So it doesn’t matter what grade you’re in, it’s what you bring to the table,” Jameela reminded them all with a grin from ear to ear full of anticipation herself.

The All Girls Expedition class starts on Monday, July 12. Stay tuned for more blog postings about our exploration in Chicago and Yellowstone!

Congratulations to our All Girls Expedition team members on beginning this journey together:

• Tykesha B., 10^th grade, Perspectives Charter School – Calumet High School of Technology
• Brianna B., 10^th grade, John Hope College Prepartory High School
• Mariama J., 10^th grade, Perspectives Charter School – Rodney D. Joslin
• Noelani O., 8^th grade, Telpochcalli Elementary School
• Kaylor O., 9^th grade, Perspectives Charter School – Calumet High School of Technology
• Shamerea R., 12^th grade, University of Chicago Charter School – Woodlawn
• Constance R., 12^th grade, University of Chicago Charter School – Woodlawn
• Kenisha S., 12^th grade, University of Chicago Charter School – Woodlawn
• Genesis V., 12^th grade, Perspectives Charter School – Rodney D. Joslin
  

  Shamerea talks about what she is most excited about.

Manager of Girls Programs, Jameela Jafri, welcomes everyone to Girls' Health and Science Day

What do 86 girls from six Chicago Public Schools have in common? They all were able to interact in a day that was fully dedicated to learning more about their bodies, self-esteem, relationships, and health. Thursday, March 25th marked the ten-year anniversary of a great conference for 7-10th grade girls to gather together in a safe space to learn and ask those uncomfortable questions that they normally would be embarrassed to. While the girls participated in sessions learning about self-defense, health, and reproduction; their teachers were involved in a professional development workshop on how to address the needs of their female students.

The day officially began with a rousing welcome from Mama Brenda Matthews of  Imani Nia ministries. She delivered a wake up call to all the girls questioning the music that they listened to everyday. In an original poem, Mama Brenda recited lyrics from several popular rap songs where demoralizing women was a standard.  She then made each girl make a promise to treat themselves and each other like the queens they truly are. After the morning welcome concluded, the girls were separated into five groups and group leaders departed for the adult track.

While the girls would spend their day learning more about themselves the adults really got a chance to focus on how to better serve the girls. The adult track sessions were facilitated by independent consultant, Jessica Palmert. After allowing attendees a few moments to focus on Mama Brenda’s moving welcome, Jessica introduced Eva Ball from Rape Victims Advocates as the morning presenter. Eva began by educating everyone on the difference between sexual assault and sexual abuse; and the startling statistic that 1 in 3 girls are a victim of sexual assault by the age of 18. Her main focus on the day was how young girls self-image, self-esteem, and the role the media played in this development.

Eva Ball from Rape Victims Advocates leading a discussion on sexual assault.

Participants viewed a clip from the 2006 documentary Generation M: Misogyny in Media and Culture where four pre-teen girls spent two hours to put on make-up and curl their hair for an afternoon at the mall. After the clips were viewed many participants marveled on the emphasis that the media played on broadcasting overly sexualized women in entertainment and how that related to larger issues of anorexia among girls.

After lunch, Vivian Barrett from the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH), would discuss how to implement sexual education inside the classroom. Vivian provided tons of resources for participants on where to procure information to better talk to youth about sex and how to practice safe sex. One of the hands-on activities presented was a timeline starting from birth and ending at 18 years old. Each attendee was given a description of sexual development and had to place along the timeline where in the child’s life this would occur. It really surprised several people that empathy for others did not develop in students until about 18 years of age. This really helped everyone understand how to better tailor these difficult questions to where their students were developmentally.

Girls excitedly look through their gift bags at the end of the day.

At the end of the day, the girls and adults regrouped for a question and answer panel facilitated by the University of Chicago Medical Center. Before leaving all participants received gift bags with resources that would help to them continue their conversations from the day. The information that was given was invaluable for so many people and will hopefully change the lives of all for the better.

2005 was a good year: it was the year Eileen Sweeney signed on to direct the Motorola Foundation - and the field of science in out of school time hasn’t really been the same since. The Foundation does grantmaking to the tune of $20+ million annually in more than 25 countries and about 25% ($5 million) of it has been targeted at infusing the field of science in out of school time through funding for direct service, new programs and strategic initiatives. Surrounding Eileen is her enthusiastic posse: Carol, Brian, Carlye and the unflappable Matt Blakely – a team that receives (and sends) texts at all hours day or night and which can pull together a white paper and strategically target where funds should go in the wake of a (non-science in out of school time type) global disaster, sometimes before full blown NGOs have their GPS points in hand.

(Before we go on, yes, Project Exploration (thank goodness!!!) receives funds from the Motorola Foundation in support of our girls services and occasional special projects such as our September 2008 “Conference on Science and Technology in Out of School Time“)

Here’s the thing about what makes what they’re doing important for the field from my perspective:

1) they fund direct service (actual programming for actual kids)

2) they fund programs that are trying to get started but they also fund renewals-  which means you can really put down roots in a program and grow it in a healthy way

3) the have sponsored much needed research into participation by minorities and girls in science – not on their own, but through partnerships with grantees. Research is great, but it’s really meaningful to nonprofits when it can help build capacity within organizations during the process. You can check out the reports: Evaluating Promising Practices in STEM ED for Girls (done with the Girls Scouts) and Confronting the “New” American Dilemma: Underrepresented Minorities in Engineering (done with the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering.)

So why write about this today? I’ve just come from the first Innovation Generation Conference at the Motorola campus in Schaumburg, where I presented on a panel with some extraordinary women about programs serving girls. The conference convened education leaders and grantees to explore the future of STEM education in the U.S. You can get a lot of insight into where the “future” of science may – and, I believe, should – be heading by skimming the surface of just the attendees list. This was not your traditional STEM ED convergence by any means. Yes, tried and true blue education efforts from museums and universities were represented. But so was Marwen an arts education organization as were individual public schools (like North Lawndale College Prep).

So, about the GIRL POWER Panel (which was held in the “ALPHA” room – gotta love it!) I was part of at the conference…The best thing I can do is send you to the websites of the organizations on the panel with me. They’re neat, fun, and most importantly, girl-centered. Science for girls needs to be about more than just running science without boys – and these programs are all great takes on what that can look like in the century of science and technology. Without further ado… INTRODUCING:

• VINITHA NAIR – guiding us on a tour of Zoey’s Room from Platform Shoes Forum (platform as in “online” platform; “shoes” as it “walk in their shoes”)
• KAREEN WILKINSON – sharing the story behind Science Club for Girls
• JENNIFER STANCIL – feeding us a little BRAIN CAKE and letting us sip from the CAN*TEEN while listening to a little GIRL TALK.

I talked a little about our girls’ services and the things we learn from girls in Our Sisters4Science program in the absence our Girls’ Services Coordinator Jameela Jafri and Program Director Kristin Atman, (currently on the All Girls Expedition with our girls in Yellowstone!)

I’m working on uploading my presentation, “Taking it Personally: Project Exploration’s Sisters4Science,” though it’s probably not that exciting w/out the narrative. (Check back – if I can figure out how to embed Power point in this blog the ppt will be HERE!)

Meanwhile, it’s clear if the Motorola Foundation, (with Eileen at the helm and her crew in tow!), has anything to do with it, we’ll all come to understand “renewable energy” in terms of GIRL POWER!