By Sofie Tapia

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A group of about 12 young girls huddled around an assortment of recycled materials Saturday, wondering how they should design their model of a futuristic city.

The girls were all part of the Girl Scouts organization, and were attending the 10th annual Girls in Engineering, Math and Science event at UK.

“Discuss not just where, but when your city is going to exist,” said Bruce Walcott, UK’s associate dean for New Economy Initiatives and Innovations Management Engineering Alumni Association professor. Walcott led the Future Cities workshop, where the girls had the opportunity to design and build a scale model of a future city using recycled materials. The workshop was just one of the many hands-on workshops held during the GEMS event, which was open to all girl scouts in Kentucky and surrounding states from 4th to 12th grade with a $10 fee for children and $5 fee for adults.

Vicki Cooper, staff assistant in the UK College of Engineering and former Girl Scout leader, helped create the annual GEMS event at UK. The idea came about in 2004, when the Girl Scouts wanted a program that was focused on science, technology, engineering and math curriculum. Cooper joined up with Susan Miller, director of program services for the Girl Scouts of Kentucky’s Wilderness Road Council, to create GEMS at UK. The program has gained momentum since 2004, and Cooper said that around 350 girls attended this year. Cooper said the GEMS program holds a special place in her heart.

As a child she never had the encouragement or support to pursue a career in the STEM fields. Now her hope is to inspire girls that are unaware of the possibilities that are out there for them. GEMS is sponsored by the Girl Scouts of America, but the time given by Cooper and her fellow UK faculty members is on a purely volunteer basis. She says people volunteer to help with the workshops, which are meant to be fun and STEM related.

Volunteers at the event also included members of the Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honors society at UK. Rachel Adams, a civil engineering graduate student and member of Tau Beta Pi, says this was her fifth year participating in GEMS. Adams feels it’s important for them to hold events like this for young girls because it gives STEMS experience to girls who “may not have the opportunity to explore.” This sentiment was shared by Laura Lusk, who was attending the event with her 4th and 6th grade daughters. She says there aren’t many opportunities for this kind of hands-on learning at schools because of lack of funding and she uses outside activities like GEMS to supplement that. She knows that there is a low ratio of women in STEM related fields but feels these are marketable skills.

“I want to expose them to math and science as early on as possible,” Lusk said.