Each month we spotlight a woman or girl in tech who inspires us. This month we are highlighting a few of the mentors & role models from the She Started It ESTEAM Summit. On September 23, these women shared their passion for and journey into career fields related to entrepreneurship, science, technology, engineering, art & math with over 150 girls from around the region. 

Elizabeth Bollwerk is an archaeologist who works with digital data, collaborating with researchers to analyze historic records and artifacts using digital methods to develop new ideas and interpretations of the past and, by extension, the present. Elizabeth is passionate about the value of community engagement and has worked with a variety of cultural heritage organizations to gather feedback from audiences and members to ensure those institutions meet the needs of their communities. She is an active proponent of making museum collections and their associated data more accessible and relevant to the general public.

Kirsten Fuoti has been teaching Physics and Engineering in the Math, Engineering, and Science Academy at Albemarle High School since 2011. She attended The College of William and Mary as an undergraduate and the University of Massachusetts for graduate school where she earned her Masters in Physics. Before teaching, she worked at the Department of Homeland Security as a technical analyst in the fields of explosives detection and cyber security.  

Bethany Gordon is a 1st year PhD student in the Behavioral Science for Sustainable Systems program at UVA. In her research, she uses virtual reality, behavioral science, biometric technology, and systems engineering as tools to rethink the current limitations of sustainable design in civil engineering. Though engineering was initially a counter-intuitive choice for Bethany, it was one of the best decisions she ever made because it allows her to be both logical and creative in her work. 

Kathryn Jaquish is a master's student at the University of Virginia. Her study area is in Civil and Environmental Engineering, with a focus on water resources. Water is Kathryn’s passion and this past summer she had the opportunity to go to Peru to do research. The focus was on an Inca water system located near Cusco, Peru. She is excited to help young girls pursue a STEM education because it has really impacted her life and her direction. Kathryn hopes to show girls how engineering could empower them and open up so many opportunities.   

Kayla Johnson is a quality engineer originally from Hartford, CT. After graduating from the University of Connecticut with her degree in mechanical engineering she was looking for a change, and eventually made Charlottesville her home. 

Andria Li is a second-year student at the University of Virginia majoring in Biology and Spanish. She is pre-med, and loves STEM because it is the utilization of logic and reasoning for the improvement of our world.

Karen Measells is an Operations and Systems Engineer for the UVA Health System, where she analyzes patient flow and caregiver processes to maximize the efficiency of care in the hospital and clinics.  Karen has a degree in Industrial Engineering, where she learned to understand the way a system functions, both at a system and an individual level, and then make improvements that will reduce wasted time and resources. Although Industrial Engineering was developed in factories, Karen has spent her career in health care because of the many opportunities for improvement. 

Alana Moczydlowski has dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Molecular Biology and Mathematics and a Master of Science in Statistics.  She has spent many years working in the scientific and technical community supporting aerosol biology research. 

April Ruggles joined RMF Engineering as a mechanical engineer in 2016. She holds four patents from her time in the computer hardware industry at IBM & Lenovo. April earned her BSME from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, where she worked as a Junior Scientist on the construction of a Neutrino Detector created in collaboration with the Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. April loves fixing her own vehicles when they break and tragically, her Honda Civic hasn’t had a single issue since she bought it four years ago.

Gabrielle Schoppa is a technology teacher at Burley Middle School. This is Ms. Schoppa's 11th year at Burley. Prior to teaching middle school tech, she taught French, Language Arts, and at both  at elementary and high school. She loves making things, discovering new technologies, and learning by doing-- even if projects don't turn out as they should the first time around. 

5/5 - “You four are important to me.” Poppy takes a sip of her wine, and I think I can see her hands tremble slightly, betraying her air of certainty. “I know that the feeling is not mutual, but I can honestly say that you four have shaped the entire trajectory of my life. I would not be where I am today without you.” PG 41

Talk about the surprise of a lifetime. Not only getting invited to a private island getaway  all expenses paid but being asked by a girl they tormented to be her bridesmaids. Esther, Tanya, Chloe, and Annabel has drifted apart since high school ended. Their lives seemingly detached from one another's yet a messy web remains. Then, for icing on the cake, Poppy Greer has invited them away and as much as lives have changed, none of the girls can shake the feeling that something isn't quite right. That there is something  off about Poppy and the reason that she wants them there. Then makeup is destroyed, jewelry goes missing, and a not too gentle push while standing on the edge of a cliff. Things are getting weird. It doesn't take long before the scenic view of the island is marred by murder. Secrets are  revealed; affairs, sexual misconduct, theft, the list goes on. What no one sees coming is the next murder that each day brings. Will anyone make it off the island alive?

I wasn’t ready for this one. It was the perfect thriller as every time I thought I knew the killer, they would end up dead. Then you start to wonder if maybe there's more than one. Maybe two of them are working together to keep the secrets of the past and present from getting out there. Maybe others that read this are more ahead of the game than I was. The opening points you in one direction but the clues throughout the book  try to lead you to a different conclusion. I would have to say that this is a quick read as  you will be hanging on to every word.

That was the question we posed to 5th graders this past trimester. Ten of them joined us to prove that, in fact, they are ready to start something. I have been super inspired by the She Started It film and it’s message for women, girls and really anyone who wants to pursue entrepreneurship. Last fall I helped organize the She Started It ESTEAM Summit which saw 150 K-12 girls join mentors and role models throughout the region to take part in a film screening, panel discussions and hands-on workshops.

Recently, She Started It developed curriculum material and so I started looking for an opportunity to take it on a test drive at St. Anne’s-Belfield School. We are fortunate to have something called FabLab, which is a 75-minute block of time each week where students get to explore something they are passionate about. Sarah Fitzhenry, the school librarian, and I made a pitch to the 5th graders to join our FabLab:

Backpack Buddies, a non-profit that provides school supplies to children in need, was started by a student from the school when she was 9 years old. Another student in Charlottesville created Strikey Sensors, a sports training product, when he was in sixth grade. Can you follow in these young entrepreneurs’ footsteps and start something?

What did it look like?

The She Started It curriculum guide is geared toward 6th through 9th grade students, but we were able to adapt for 5th grade and I feel confident it can easily be used with students in 10th-12th grade as well. The curriculum places a big emphasis on discussion and because some of it will be around sensitive issues like gender and race, the guide offers many facilitator tips for creating a safe space for discussion. The guide is laid out in six sections with a theme for each: 1) Intro & Screening, 2)Theme Discussion, 3) Exploring Interests, 4) Getting Started, 5) Building a Pitch, and 6) Presentation Day.

Because we were working with 5th graders, we felt it was important to get them engaged with a hands-on activity right away, so we actually started with lesson 3) Exploring Interests. This session included a clip from the film featuring one of the entrepreneurs pursuing their interest to solve a problem. This leads nicely into an interest mapping activity for the students.

Next up is lesson 4) Getting Started, where students create a project statement based on their interests and do some prototyping, sketching, brainstorming and/or researching around their ideas. The students were so engaged in this activity, that we made time for it each day during the rest of our time together.

Now that the students had explored their interests, identified a problem to work on and started prototyping a solution, they were beginning to recognize themselves as entrepreneurs, so we went back to lesson 2) Theme Discussion to take some time to reflect on roadblocks like bias and stereotypes that they might face. The discussion that happened was one of the highlights of my year - deep, thoughtful and thought provoking.

What did they create?

In lesson 5) Building a Pitch, the film offers an excellent example of a pitch going through the process of refinement and improvement. It’s a great opportunity to have students recognize the do’s and don’ts of presenting while watching the clips and discussing their observations. We gave them a template for their pitches and they were off and running, incorporating the things they learned about presenting in this lesson.

We brought in a local entrepreneur to give students feedback on the final pitch day and that really helped amp their engagement up to another level. His pre-pitch advice was perfect: be clear, be confident and make sure your audience knows what you are asking for. The pitches ranged from addressing obesity in kids with camps to promote health and activity to helping anyone create music with a music making website to protecting the environment with solar race cars, reusable energy, and biodegradable material for 3D printers as well as prototypes of helping injured animals with a portable rescue unit, helping kids in need with an activity box and helping the older generation stay in touch with a “simple” watch. We cannot recommend enough the power of inviting a guest in to provide students with authentic feedback and there are so many entrepreneurs out there who want to help the next generation.

What’s next?

These students now know what entrepreneurship is. They have been given tools for solving problems and pursuing ideas that they are passionate about. They recognize that there are some barriers they will need to overcome, whether it’s bias, stereotypes or just the pushback one gets when trying something new. They have practiced giving and getting constructive feedback and gained confidence in public speaking.

We will look for opportunities to bring the She Started It curriculum to more students at St. Anne’s-Belfield School. We highly recommend the film and this curriculum as a great way to begin exploring entrepreneurship with your students too!

For more information about the film and curriculum visit www.shestarteditfilm.com and/or e-mail [email protected].