The Pittsburgh-based
Girls, Math & Science Partnership (GMSP) has been inspiring and educating girls here in southwestern PA for nearly a decade, offering them encouragement and information about careers in math and science. And in recent years, this unique resource has also begun developing a huge following among girls nationwide:
Braincake.org, the web presence for GMSP, now boasts more than 1 million hits per month.
Last week, Braincake was awarded he Roy L. Shafer Leading-Edge Award for Visitor Experience (large center) at the 2009 Annual Conference of the
Association of Science-Technology Centers. And GMSP, which has been based at the Carnegie Science Center since 2005, has recently expanded its physical programming beyond Pennsylvania's borders to include programs at the ArizonaScience Center.
"The growth has been really exponential," says Emily Sturman, assistant director of GMSP, and girls everywhere are responding to the site. In 2006, they counted 1 million hits for the year. That doubled in 2007 and reached 7 million in 2008.
The site's design screams teenage girl. But amid the butterflies and vivid shades of pink, girls visiting Braincake find a community of friends who want to talk about math and science. They also find scholarship information, blogs by other teens, homework help, research and virtual mentoring.
"Mentorship is one of the most critical components of our website," Sturman says, because it gives girls real-life role models in the fields of math and science. "No matter what your interests in terms of what discipline of science you're looking for – archeology, zoology, or engineering – or what your racial background is or what your age is, you can pretty much find someone who kind of looks like you might look," she says. "We can connect them, at least virtually."
Braincake's weekly eblasts reach more than 12,000 members (membership is free). Many are teen girls, says Sturman, but "we also have a ton of parents and teachers who are just interested in keeping engaged in their daughter's or their students' education."
Writer: Melissa Rayworth
Source: Emily Sturman, GMSP
Image courtesy of GMSP
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