Closing the Gender Gap in Tech in New Bedford!

 

 

 

Dear Friend,

“I really like the staff and the new friends I’ve made. They’ve helped make school so much better.” – Victoria, age 14

The Girls Exclusive Program provides girls ages 10-14 with personal enrichment and leadership development. Our curriculum is designed to tap into a child’s natural curiosity about the world around them, and we organize activities and field trips that emphasize hands-on inquiry-based exploration that help girls develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills. All girls in Girls Exclusive gain a new awareness of safe, fun, and personally enriching opportunities available to them in Greater New Bedford beyond their own schools, neighborhoods, living situations. and the YWCA main office.

This past summer, Victoria and her fellow campers attended cultural and STEM- based field trips within Greater New Bedford and Southeastern Massachusetts, including the Heritage Museums and Gardens, the Lloyd Center for the Environment, and Round the Bend Farm.

Victoria’s participation in our Summer Program at Temple Landing and Afterschool Program at Keith Middle School has helped dramatically improve her experience of going to school, so much that her parents have requested that the YWCA offer Girls Exclusive next year at New Bedford High School so Victoria can stay in the program! For participants like Victoria who will be “aging out” of the middle school program, we are developing ways to expand services for girls in New Bedford area high schools for fall 2019.

Full STEAM ahead! Girls Exclusive aims to not only close the gender gap in technology, but to help girls discover new ways of using technology to solve problems in their day-to-day lives and to create a stronger community of women and girls in STEAM. We are excited to launch our new VEX IQ Robotics curriculum this winter, and we recently hosted a coding event, in partnership with Made with Code by Google and ROOKIE. One of our participants won a free Pixelbook for her creation! Girls Exclusive is also developing a podcast program, in collaboration with the Whaling Museum’s Lighting the Way: Historic Women of the Southcoast, in which girls will produce podcast episodes on what it means to be a woman in New Bedford. Stay tuned for episodes posted on our website during Women’s History month!

Girls Exclusive is just one of the many program offerings the YWCA provides. We have Adult Services, Health and Wellness, Youth Services and Residential Services, all of which had direct impact on 4,000 women and families last year.

Please support us with a gift today to make sure we continue to provide support to the youth of our community. A $100.00 donation would help cover a full week for the Girls Exclusive Summer Program for one girl like Victoria. Help us make a difference in the lives of children and their families with a contribution today.

Sincerely,

Gail Fortes

Executive Director

To make a donation, please click HERE.

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The Difference is in the “W!”

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