Girl Scouts Earn STEM Badges From Microsoft Workshops

Girl Scouts Kennedy Johnson (left) and Yashica Kodemala (right) work on earning a robotics badge with help from Sharon Salazar, a product adviser at the Microsoft Store at NorthPark Center in Dallas (via Microsoft)

Girl Scouts can start earning five different technology badges with new Microsoft Store workshops.

The youth organization and multinational corporation have teamed up to teach young girls about science, technology, engineering, and math.

Free seminars for Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, and Cadettes provide digital skills and foster leadership qualities that could help close the gender gap in science, STEM fields.

Participants can earn up to five badges in computer expertise, digital photography, movie making, and robotics.

A leadership series featuring former Girl Scouts and female experts also aim to inspire older members to pursue a STEM-based education and career.

“This partnership empowers girls to achieve more through digital skills and provides role models to look up to so they can become leaders of the future,” Sandra Andrews of Microsoft Store said in a statement.

The program began earlier this year with a small pilot, operating in just a few states with 200 girls.

Moving forward, troop leaders can arrange workshops with a community development specialist at local Microsoft Stores.

The goals of Microsoft Store and the 1.7 million-strong Girl Scouts “align well together,” according to Andrews.

“The ability to activate those troops with amazing hands-on technology and help all demographic and economic groups with digital skills really makes this partnership special,” she added.

A 2018 Microsoft study found that girls who do STEM activities and know women in STEM professions are more likely to understand career opportunities—and how to pursue them.

Girl Scouts of the USA has been working for three years to promote science, technology, engineering, and math learning: What began with a Netflix collaboration has expanded into a thriving program.

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