SciGirls Extraordinaire | Kate Moore, texting queen

Yesterday a 15-year-old from Des Moines, Iowa, won the national texting competition, sponsored by LG Mobile Phones. Press reports suggest Kate has only had a cell phone for 8 months, but rose to the top of the teen heap through good old-fashioned practice. Evidently she texts some 14,000 messages each month.

Feeling ambivalent about whether this is actually an accomplishment? You're not alone! Adult attitudes about kids' use of technology can be murky. ("Turn off that video game!") But there's more to the story.

Kate won $50,000 for her efforts, using skill, accuracy, and nerves of steel. And new technologies can help kids understand the power of STEM. After all, someone has to invent, design, and program the many goodies that fill--and enhance--their digital lives.

SciGirls Extraordinaire | Baby Helen

Check out this SciGirl, spied recently at her big brother's kindergarten concert. Not yet a year old, Helen is a true digital native who clearly has her fingers on the pulse of new technology. Her parents say her interests lean toward the big "T" in STEM, including mobile technologies. And although she hasn't decided on a college just yet, there's no doubt that it's never really to soon to encourage a girl in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics!

Behind the Scenes | Advisory Board Meeting

Earlier this week, the SciGirls staff welcomed its advisory board to TPT for two full days of sharing our work to date and planning for the remaining shoots as well as website and outreach development.

Our advisors are colleagues, collaborators, and creative dreamers who know the field of STEM gender equity and have great ideas for all that SciGirls can be. To name drop just a little, the group included: Karen Flammer, University of California and Sally Ride Science (and a space physicist, to boot!); Jeanine Gregoire, Augsburg College; Jo Haas, Louisville Science Center; Julie Johnson, Science Museum of Minnesota; Dale McCreedy, the Franklin Institute; Karen Peterson, National Girls Collaborative Project; Ruto Sevo, Momox Consulting; Julie Shannan, Girls Start; Beth Spezia, WSIU; and Jen Stancil, Girls Math & Science Partnership.

In addition to offering a lot of great advice from their various vantage points, the group saw a sneak preview of some early Puppet Engineering clips. Here's one of the clips--from puppet engineering--making its web debut. Enjoy!

Behind the Scenes | Turtle Power!

It’s time to be on the lookout for turtles! In late May and early June, turtles emerge from ponds, lakes and wetlands and often cross roads and land to find the ideal spot to nest and lay their eggs. (Turtles are creatures of habit and know where they’re going, so it’s best to stay out of their way...) Our wild-about-nature SciGirls are soon starting a turtle habitat and population investigation at their local nature center (Dodge Nature Center). Did you know you can tell how old a turtle is by counting the lines on one of its scutes (that’s a scale on its shell)? How cool is that?

SciGirls Extraordinaire | Imagine That! Engineering Innovation Essay Contest

The results are in! The Imagine That! engineering innovation essay contest, sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering's "Engineer Girl" website, asked young people to consider one of three images on their site and discuss its potential purposes and function--using nothing but their imaginations and engineering creativity.

Decreasing the amount of space junk, magnetic levitation transportation, and organic light-emitting diodes, were the winning topics for the grades 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 categories respectively. Impressed? (We were, too!) So if you're looking for a little STEM inspiration, check out the winning essays.

Behind the Scenes | Horse Sense

So what are these boot-sporting SciGirls up to? Kicking off a scientific horse comparison, of course! The second shoot of our new series is off and running--pardon the pun!

Check out our talented cameraman, Mike Phillips. He's a hold over from our DragonflyTV crew. Mike was just nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Single Camera Editing for his work on the series. Did we mention he won an Emmy in the same category last year? Congratulations, Mike!

Behind the Scenes | It's a Wrap!

Earlier this week, the SciGirls production team finished shooting our very first episode. Hip, hip, hooray! The pig puppet project (try to say that three times quickly...) culminated at Minneapolis' 35th annual May Day Parade, hosted by the creative visionaries from Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. (Visit their site to see more great images from the event.)

Thanks to Anna, Lacie, Clara Sophia, and Norah--our SciGirls stars-- and their supportive families for helping make this project possible. And a special shout out to our SciGirls engineering mentors AnnMarie Thomas and Willis "Bow" Bowman for their guidance in all things puppet! And remember, it's not officially Spring in Minnesota until a big, pink, papier-mâché pig comes rumbling down Bloomington Avenue!