Huntley event encourages middle school girls to get into science, engineering

Sixth-grader Chloe Gast said she had no idea that being a pharmacist involves so many different skills - like knowing about math, chemistry and biology - and that some pharmacists even work in emergency rooms.

Gast, of Marlowe Middle School in Lake in the Hills, was among 80 middle-school girls from Huntley Community School District 158 who attended the second annual Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science, or GEMS, event Saturday at Huntley High School.

"It was very informational," she said. "I liked it because I like the medical stuff a lot. I want to become a doctor."

That's exactly the kind of drive that organizers wanted to nurture among girls, who are often underrepresented in those fields.

"Girls are missing opportunities for enriching careers, and lucrative careers," said co-organizer Laura Jenkins, an instructional and math team coach at the high school. "We wanted to show them what those are."

The event featured 12 presentations and hands-on activities led by women who work in mechanical and civil engineering, mathematics, architecture, coding and more.

Kristen Dykema was among three environmental scientists from Hampton Lenzini & Renwick Inc. in Elgin who talked about what they do, such as removing beaver dams, surveying trees and monitoring prescribed burns.

"Women can do just as much as men - you just have to use your mind," she said. "Maybe I don't have as many muscles as a guy has, but I have a Gator (utility vehicle) with a winch."

Dani Kuusisto, an eighth-grader at Marlowe Middle School, said she enjoyed a veterinary medicine presentation with mock emergencies, and teaming up with other girls for a math competition. "It's been pretty fun," she said.

The Huntley High School robotics and forensics teams also led sessions. Abigale Hayes was among about eight robotics team members who helped the middle-school girls play a game with small robots.

Besides showing them robotics, the goal was to make connections with the girls so they feel empowered to take on engineering in high school, Hayes said.

"It's really important, especially for the incoming freshmen, to know we are here," Hayes said. "So they don't think, 'Oh my God, I don't want to be the only girl.' So they're not afraid of trying things and being alone, because the team is here."

The GEMS event was started last year by two teachers, one of them Amanda Henk, a former Fermilab particle physicist who teaches engineering. The high school offers an engineering academy, but only about 15 percent of the 300 or so students enrolled are female, Henk said.

Women filled 47 percent of all U.S. jobs in 2015 but held only 24 percent of STEM jobs, according to the "STEM Jobs: 2017 Update" from the Economics and Statistics Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.