Feb. 29: CLC hosts 10th annual STEM Day for Girls
Girls in 7th through 12th grade and their parents are invited to College of Lake County's 10th annual free STEM for Girls event Saturday, Feb. 29. This hands-on career exploration day packed with workshops by expert presenters, is from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Lower Level A Wing on the Grayslake Campus, 19351 W. Washington St.
STEM for Girls is designed for individuals as well as school, scout and youth groups. The program seeks to motivate middle school and high school girls interested in STEM careers to become innovative and creative thinkers. Presenters include CLC faculty members from a variety of academic areas plus other professional experts and teachers.
Girls choose from a variety of presentation topics, including chemistry, lasers, medical imaging, Olympic wellness, robotics, computer science and more. Each session provides hands-on, practical experiences. In addition, a STEM-for-parents session will take place at the same time, featuring topics of interest to parents with daughters interested in STEM fields.
"What makes this event special is the joy that each presenter brings to their hands-on activity, whether it's solving mysteries using X-rays to making lava lamps to learn principles of biology, plus seeing the excitement in the girls' faces," said Lynn Wiechert, Ed.D., chair of CLC's medical imaging program.
Sponsored by CLC and supported by a Perkins Postsecondary grant, this annual event has grown from 30 attendees at six workshops in 2010 to more than a dozen workshops and 200 participants in 2019. "This year we added more parent sessions, including preparing for college, STEM scholarships and maker technology," said Jan Edwards, CLC engineering professor and chair of the event.
Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. in the Lower Level A Wing. Please enter at the A Wing entrance and park in lots 4, 5 or 6 near the Brae Loch Road entrance. Preregistration is highly encouraged and opens Jan. 31. For the schedule and registration, visit www.clcillinois.edu/events/stem-for-girls. For more information, contact the Biological and Health Sciences division at (847) 543-2394 or email isaini@clcillinois.edu.
About College of Lake County:
The College of Lake County is a comprehensive community college committed to equitable high-quality education, cultural enrichment and partnerships to advance the diverse communities it serves in northeastern Illinois. Offered at three campuses in Grayslake, Vernon Hills and Waukegan or online, college classes are affordable and accessible to help each student achieve academic, career and personal goals. More than 70,000 students graduated with degrees and certificates since the college opened in 1969. The College of Lake County is the only higher-education institution ranked among the top 15 best places to work in Illinois by Forbes and is a national leader in many areas, including sustainability and conservation. Learn more at www.clcillinois.edu or call (847) 543-2000.