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at 2015 Girls in STEM Conference

Hanger, Inc. to Showcase Prosthetic Tail, Made Famous in 2011 Feature Film Dolphin Tale, at 2015 Girls in STEM Conference

(AUSTIN) – Girlstart is pleased to announce that Hanger, Inc. will showcase the prosthetic tail and liner it created for Winter — the famous dolphin from the 2011 feature film Dolphin Tale — at this year’s Girls in STEM Conference on Saturday, April 11th.

2015 marks the tenth anniversary of Girlstart’s annual Girls in STEM event, which will be held at Travis High School (1211 E. Oltorf). The conference will bring more than 450 4th-8th grade girls from throughout Central Texas together for hands-on STEM education sessions led by 80 professional women working in STEM fields at Austin-area companies.

Sessions at this year’s conference will give girls the opportunity to perform DNA isolation on strawberries, create an adhesive similar to what’s used in tape, and build a city out of candy, to name just three of the fun, hands-on, creative activities showing girls the range of experiences available in STEM careers. In addition, all the girls will participate in an opening session in which they will create their own prosthetic tails, modeled after the one Hanger created.

“We’re thrilled to be able to involve Hanger, Inc. in this year’s event,” said Julie Shannan, Deputy Director of Girlstart. “The prosthetic tail used by Winter in Dolphin Tale is an amazing technological achievement that also happened to play a role in a movie that many of our students know and love. This conference is all about showing girls what’s possible with STEM to change lives and make the world a better place, and Hanger is allowing us to feature a familiar example of that.”

This conference, part of the Expanding Your Horizons network, is one of the longest-running programs in Girlstart’s ever-expanding array of STEM education programs geared toward girls.

Girlstart, founded in 1997, is the only community-based informal STEM education nonprofit in the nation specifically dedicated to empowering and equipping girls in STEM through year-round programming that promotes girls’ early engagement and academic success in STEM, encourages girls’ aspirations and persistence in STEM education and careers, and incubates a talented and diverse STEM workforce.

For more info about Winter the Dolphin and how the Hanger Clinic (the division of Hanger, Inc., specializing in orthotic and prosthetic services and products) helped outfit her with a prosthetic tail, visit the page about Winter on the Hanger Clinic’s website: www.hangerclinic.com/success-stories/winter-the-dolphin/Pages/default.aspx.

For more info about Girlstart and its Girls in STEM Conference, visit this page on the Girlstart website: www.girlstart.org/our-programs/girls-in-stem-conference.

in advance of SXSW Interactive Hall of Fame Award next Tuesday

Girlstart launches its #GrowGirlstart campaign in advance of SXSW Interactive Hall of Fame Award next Tuesday

(AUSTIN) – Girlstart has launched a brand new campaign, #GrowGirlstart, in advance of Girlstart Executive Director Tamara Hudgins receiving the SXSW Interactive Hall of Fame Award at the festival’s Interactive Innovation Awards next Tuesday evening.

Girlstart has launched the campaign to highlight the upcoming expansion of Girlstart STEM education programs across Texas and across the nation. The campaign asks participants to declare, via social media channels, why they want to help Girlstart expand by using #GrowGirlstart in their posts. The campaign website page, which includes testimonials from young women who are on trajectories toward successful careers via their experiences in Girlstart programs, is viewable at www.girlstart.org/growgirlstart.

The web page for the campaign specifically notes plans for expansion to Dallas, Houston and the Rio Grande Valley, as well as plans for national expansion. Hudgins will make an initial announcement about those plans next Tuesday during the award ceremony, and Girlstart plans to provide regular updates on the organization’s growth. While Girlstart has taken summer programming throughout the nation in recent years, its after-school programming – which has grown to serve more than 1200 students at 50 different schools – is still principally concentrated in the Austin metro area.

“We’re looking forward to another SXSW Interactive Conference, and we’re honored that SXSW is making STEM education for girls part of this year’s conversation via this award,” said Hudgins. “The GrowGirlstart campaign we’ve launched is intended to show that there is a broad show of support for creating STEM education opportunities for girls. By reaching more girls, we have the opportunity to dramatically impact the STEM pipeline, which is how we’ll best achieve bringing more talented women into the STEM professional community.”

In addition to its presence at SXSW Interactive, Girlstart participated in the SXSWEdu Expo earlier this week, geared towards educators and school administrators, and SXSWCreate, geared toward what SXSW terms “hackers and DIYers.”
Girlstart, founded in 1997, is the only community-based informal STEM education nonprofit in the nation specifically dedicated to empowering and equipping girls in STEM through year-round programming that promotes girls’ early engagement and academic success in STEM, encourages girls’ aspirations and persistence in STEM education and careers, and incubates a talented and diverse STEM workforce.

Girlstart Executive Director Tamara Hudgins Named SXSW’s 2015 Interactive Hall of Fame Inductee

(AUSTIN) – Today,SXSW has announced that Girlstart Executive Director Tamara Hudgins has been named its Interactive Hall of Fame Inductee for 2015.

Hudgins, who has been with Girlstart since 2009, is being honored for work in helping to expand and develop the Austin-based non-profit organization. Girlstart, founded in 1997, is the only community-based informal STEM education nonprofit in the nation specifically dedicated to empowering and equipping girls in STEM, through year-round programming that promotes girls’ early engagement and academic success in STEM, encourages girls’ aspirations and persistence in STEM education and careers, and incubates a talented and diverse STEM workforce.

Specifically, since 2009, Girlstart’s impact has grown from reaching 1,500 girls, teachers, and family members each year to over 15,000. Additionally, the Girlstart After School has grown from 4 to 45 programs, has been recognized as the most robust program of its kind in the nation, and is now replicating regionally. Girlstart Summer Camp, the second core program, has expanded from 8 to 22 week-long programs each summer, with replication outside Austin as well as in six states nationwide. Both Girlstart After School and Girlstart Summer Camp have been recognized by Change the Equation in the STEMWorks database, with Girlstart Summer Camp further recognized as one of four “exemplary” and “highly scalable” STEM education programs in America.

More recently, the organization has expanded beyond its Central Texas roots to offer programming in the Bay Area, Seattle, Chicago, and other urban centers with sizable STEM professional communities, and has partnered with the likes of Dell, AMD, Freescale, Google, Motorola Solutions, National Instruments, and 3M to develop STEM education programs that are helping to address the gender inequity still prevalent in the nation’s STEM professional community.

“This is an honor that reflects the work of the entire Girlstart team, and shows the importance of programming that inspires girls to pursue STEM fields of study and STEM careers,” Hudgins said. “While we’ve come a long way as an organization in our first 18 years, we’re setting our sights on making even more of a difference in the years to come.”

The award ceremony will be held on Tuesday, March 17 as part of this year’s SXSW Interactive Conference, and will include an announcement regarding Girlstart’s plans for 2015 and beyond. Since the Hall of Fame was established in 2012, honorees include web design master and entrepreneur Jeffery Zeldman, social media expert and researcher danah boyd, and MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito.

SXSW’s official announcement is viewable on the official SXSW website, at sxsw.com/interactive/news/2015/2015-interactive-hall-fame-inductee-tamara-hudgins-girlstart.

Raising $50,000 for STEM Education Programs

Girlstart Seeks Volunteers, Invites Runners to Participate in 3M Half Marathon on Jan. 25, Raising $50,000 for STEM Education Programs

Girlstart, named the beneficiary of the upcoming 2015 3M Half Marathon taking place on Jan. 25, is inviting runners to participate in what has become one of Austin’s most popular distance races, and is also seeking volunteers to help manage the Gear Check area that day.

The 3M Half Marathon, involving up to 6500 participants in this year’s edition of the race, will contribute $50,000 to Girlstart in support of the non-profit organization’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education programs for girls. Founded in 1997, Girlstart is committed to fostering STEM skills development, inspiring girls to pursue STEM education, and encouraging young women to pursue STEM careers after college. Though Girlstart has been growing steadily in recent years, Girlstart will initiate a new phase of significant expansion beginning in 2015.

“As studies released this year have shown, our afterschool STEM programs are making a positive impact on students’ math and science test scores,” said Tamara Hudgins, executive director of Girlstart. “3M’s support will allow us to continue helping students achieve academic success in the short-term, and address the ongoing gender gap in STEM careers over the long-term.”

Currently, only 24 percent of STEM professionals in the United States are women. Girlstart’s curriculum, which integrates cutting-edge technologies including video game design, 3D printing, and mobile app programming, is designed to engage girls in using STEM skills to solve problems and make discoveries.

Signups for volunteers will begin in early January on the Girlstart website at http://www.girlstart.org/volunteer/volunteer-opportunities, and race registrations are open at www.3mhalfmarathon.com/registration/.

ABOUT GIRLSTART
Girlstart, founded in Austin in 1997, is the only community-based informal STEM education nonprofit in the nation specifically dedicated to empowering and equipping girls in STEM, through year-round programming that promotes girls’ early engagement and academic success in STEM, encourages girls’ aspirations and persistence in STEM education and careers, and incubates a talented and diverse STEM workforce. Its innovative, nationally-recognized programs include after-school and summer camps for students, professional development for teachers, and community and online STEM education outreach programs. Girlstart cultivates a culture where risk is rewarded, curiosity is encouraged, and creativity is expected. As a result, Girlstart girls are connected, brave, and resilient. Girlstart makes girls more successful, and inspires them to take on the world’s greatest challenges.