Girl Scout Leadership Journey "Breathe"!

Girl Scouts from A.M Jackson Math and Science Academy in East Saint Louis, Illinois participated in a unique program called "Breathe - a STEM journey" in April and May, 2012 supported by a Girls RISEnet mini-grant. Thirty girls completed the Girl Scout Leadership Journey "Breathe" by learning about green energy, interviewing experts in green roofs, automotive design and inspection and coming up with their own clean air inventions. The series, which lasted three weeks, culminated in a "Segways and Superconductors" program put on by the Saint Louis Science Center "Science Off Center" program.

Girls studied electricity, built a circuit and assembled flashlights. After learning about basic energy principles, they were introduced to green energy and nonpolluting transportation in a very entertaining way - a Segway ride!

Although apprehensive at first, girls really got into steering and experiencing the science of gyroscopes. Each girl gained confidence thanks to the expert instruction of Saint Louis Science Center staff. In addition to teaching the girls about this unique form of green transportation, people in the community stopped and watched the girls zooming around the school playground - even asking questions about the Segways, the Science Center and what the girls learned during their Breathe journey. Most of the girls had never ridden or even heard of Segways, but after this program all left with a new sense of power of engineering and their own abilities to make the world a better place.