The Women's Bureau's Girls Electronic Mentoring in Science, Engineering, and Technology (GEM-SET) program inspires partners to develop opportunities for field experiences and networking among peers. Besides benefiting from the online mentoring, girls attend science fairs, tour museums and laboratories, and enjoy fun activities with peers who share their enthusiasm for the sciences.

GEM-SET students and church volunteers from the Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Kansas City, Missouri (as pictured above) took a moment to have some fun and pose for pictures during the street festival that was part of the Sally Ride Science Festival on April 26, 2003. This GEM-SET outing, organized in partnership with the University of Missouri-Kansas City, was also attended by GEM-SET students from another program partner, Girl Scout Troop 1043, in Warrensburg, Missouri.

Eastlake High School Counselor Caryn Hoffman has turned her enthusiasm for the GEM-SET program into action. Working with the school administration, Caryn established the Eastlake High School ASB/GEM-SET Club. Caryn actively recruits students into the program with the support of Eastlake's science teachers, and pictured are a few of those students enjoying a holiday gift exchange. The GEM-SET Club reflects an important outcome for the GEM-SET program, developing sustainable projects that are readily institutionalized by regional partners.

With the authority to create a budget, raise funds, and organize extra-curricular activities, the ASB/GEM-SET Club will enable the GEM-SET program to reach a broader audience within this predominantly Hispanic California high school.

"The GEM-SET project has already been such a positive experience in these girls' lives, we are all looking forward to the year and being active in the program," Caryn said. "I'm not sure who is having more fun, the girls or me!"

In Batavia, Illinois, students, mentors, institutional partners and parents spent the day touring the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The highlight of the tour was a trip to the Lederman Science Center, where girls conducted hands-on experiments demonstrating the principles of physics applied in the research conducted at Fermilab. Girls recorded and compared the outcomes of their experiments. One student looked forward to sharing her learning experience. "I want to tell everybody what I learned today."

The Women's Bureau is proud of all our GEM-SET girls, and their mentors.

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For More Information About WB, Contact:
U.S. Department of Labor
Women's Bureau
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Telephone 1-800-827-5335 or (202) 693-6710
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