Area Girl Scouts get hands-on STEAM experience at Kappa Delta event

NEW WILMINGTON, PA — In celebration of International Girls Day in November, sisters from Westminster College’s Kappa Delta sorority hosted a STEAM event for area Girl Scouts, hoping to broaden the young girls’ experiences and shrink the gender gap in the fields of science, technology, engineering, art and math.

Nearly 25 Westminster students—whose majors include neuroscience, biology, computer science, nursing, music, education, political science, communications, international studies and English—participated in the event, said event coordinator and senior early childhood education major Sophia Sprunger.

“I really enjoyed giving these young girls an opportunity to learn STEAM concepts through hands-on activities,” said Sprunger. “I hope to use these activities in my future classroom.”

Approximately 60 local scouts—ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade—attended the event, which featured six different stations: hands-on science, art with science, technology, engineering/building, decorating cookies to look like animal cells, and a chemistry demonstration by Dr. Helen Boylan, professor of chemistry and director for the Center for the Environment.

Within the hands-on science, art, technology, and engineering stations, the Girl Scouts could choose from three to four different activities based on their interest and ability levels. Activities included a boat building challenge, binary coding, robot programing, making chromatography butterflies and a rainbow in a jar demonstration.

Through the embedded STEAM activities and the chemistry demonstration, girls were able to learn biology, chemistry, engineering, technology and problem-solving concepts. With the hands-on learning approach, the girls were able to exercise their creativity as well.

Girl Scouts is one of the nationally recognized philanthropies of Kappa Delta. The event was held in celebration of International Girls Day, which is recognized by the national Kappa Delta sisterhood.

For more information about the event, please contact Dr. Helen Boylan, professor of chemistry and director of the Center for the Environment, at 724-946-6293 or boylanhm@westminster.edu.

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