Women in S.T.E.M is a female led club at Woodgrove that brings high school students together over their shared interest in science, technology, engineering, and math. Senior Charlotte Hannis and sponsor Mrs. Candace King started the club in the 2023-2024 school year. The mission of the club is to reach out to younger girls and encourage them to join S.T.E.M, as it is typically a male dominated field. Women in S.T.E.M meets every other week, on Green Club days, while also participating in outside events.
Woodgrove’s Women in S.T.E.M club is just one chapter of a global organization. The organization, founded in 2017 at the University of Chicago, spans 14 countries and 31 U.S. states, with 150+ chapters and over 3,000 members. Notable club alumni have gone on to major in S.T.E.M fields at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and more. The club’s global reach is outstanding. They have put on over 350 events and have a goal to reach 10,000 members by the end of the 2023-2024 school year. They also aim to become a 501(c) 3 nonprofit, which would allow them to utilize new funding opportunities and put on even more events.
Women in S.T.E.M at Woodgrove has had various speakers come in to share their experience and encourage high school girls to pursue and learn about S.T.E.M careers. They hosted Ms. Tammy Carlow, a teacher assistant and swim coach at Woodgrove, to speak at a meeting and teach about her experiences in entomology. The club strives to focus on outreach and fundraising projects. Recently, Women In S.T.E.M club members held a Spring into Science event at the Purcellville Library where they inspired younger kids to join S.T.E.M by orchestrating experiments and teaching them about science.
Advertising is very important when it comes to outreach and fundraising. Senior Juliana Nelson is co-director of media and advertising for the club and she explains, “My Co-Director and I work together to make sure all of our club meetings and events are advertised to help our club grow.” She also shares how she hopes Woodgrove’s chapter of Women in S.T.E.M. stays running in the future. “Since our club only started this year, we spent a lot of our time getting a footing and learning more about the international organization that our chapter is a part of. There are a lot of ideas that we are passing down to the new officers that will be running the club next year.”
Women in S.T.E.M is an inspiring organization for young women who are passionate and hope to pursue a career in S.T.E.M. This club gives them opportunities to teach others and learn more themselves. Junior Lucy Beekman shares, “I highly recommend for anyone to join the Women in S.T.E.M. club even if they are just slightly interested. It is a great community of people with a great mission.”