In order to position itself as a thought-leader in STEM, I worked with St. Margaret's School to establish strategic partnerships with national (Girls Learning Code and Science Venture / University of Victoria) and international (FIRST LEGO League and Google Canada / Actua) STEM-learning organizations. 

While providing access to coding and engineering programs for local girls as well as the school's own students (as a value add), these partnerships created media opportunities that were part of the overall awareness strategy at St. Margaret's School.  

See below for two sample press releases, written by yours truly, in addition to links to some of the press we received.

School program gets girls interested in technology [Victoria News]

Interview with Girls Learning Code Organizers [CFAX Radio 1070]

As seen on CHEK News (video no longer available online)

MEDIA RELEASE

Community partnerships open doors for girls' STEM education

St. Margaret’s School named Victoria’s home for Girls Learning Code and First Lego League 

Until now the non-profit organization Girls Learning Code didn’t have a home base in Victoria, but St. Margaret’s School (SMS) is changing that. Girls Learning Code is the youth arm of Ladies Learning Code, a national non-profit dedicated to teaching women and girls computer engineering skills. Their free coding workshops, which are wildly popular and open to the public, will now be available to girls throughout the year at SMS. The workshops teach coding skills through website design, game design and a variety of other topics.

This past weekend, on September 12, SMS offered a day-long game design workshop to a full house of enthusiastic girls from the school and surrounding community. Lauren Hudson, the STEM Program Support Teacher at SMS, explains that the workshop filled before the summer holidays had even ended, with a few more girls on the waitlist—a testament to the popularity of the program. "This is a wonderful mentorship opportunity for professionals in the local tech sector to help get girls excited about technology. The Girls Learning Code model depends on volunteer mentors so we are working hard on forging relationships with local tech companies to ensure we are able to open these workshops to as many girls as possible."

For upcoming coding events, participants and prospective mentors should check the SMS website or visit ladieslearningcode.com and filter events for Victoria. Registration is now open for the National Girls Coding Day workshop on November 7, a blow out event to be jointly hosted at SMS and nearby University of Victoria in order to offer the largest possible capacity. 

St. Margaret’s is also the new host organization for First Lego League—and it’s the first time the affiliate partner is from the island, a boon for Victoria and its growing tech scene. The League introduces young people, ages 9 to 14, to the fun and excitement of science and technology through Lego competitions.

“It’s not just about building robots, I love that the Lego League challenges its participants to work through real world problems,” explains Hudson. “At annual tournaments, League teams plan and build robots for competition, all the while problem-solving around hot topics like climate, energy or biomedical engineering.”

Hudson states both groups support SMS’s commitment to inquiry-based learning and exemplifies what science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) schools are about. “We are looking for collaborative, project-based opportunities for kids to work closely together in a hands-on way to solve real-world problems,” says Hudson. “These partnerships are a great way to put all that learning in context and build skills that lie outside the traditional curriculum.”

The First Lego League (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international robotics program that introduces kids aged 9-14 to the excitement of STEM learning, and brings teams together to compete in regional tournaments. For more info visit firstlegoleague.org or contact FLL@smsbc.ca if you’re interested in forming a team.

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[link to original release]

MEDIA RELEASE

New All-Girls Coding Camp brings computer science fun to girls in Victoria

Partnership with Google Canada makes coding camp a reality

Codemakers CoderGirl is the name of a new camp being offered in Victoria this summer in partnership by Science Venture from University of Victoria, Girls Learning Code and St. Margaret’s School. These week-long camps will engage girls in two age groups, Grades 3&4 and Grades 5&6. Lively and engaging activities will support girls to become creators and not just consumers of technology. The Codemaker CoderGirl Camps will be offered for just $30 per participant in order to increase accessibility to coding fun and skills for interested girls throughout Greater Victoria.

Lauren Hudson, STEM Program Support Teacher at St Margaret’s, says  “Building girls’ confidence in their technical abilities is a key component to encouraging girls to pursue STEM fields later on in their studies and careers.” St. Margaret’s School is Canada’s first all-girls STEM school.

CoderGirl is a brand new program developed in partnership by Science Venture, St. Margaret’s School, and Girls Learning Code. Week-long camps are designed to engage girls in two age ranges, Grades 3&4 and Grades 5&6, to become creators not just consumers of technology.

Lauren Hudson, STEM Program Support Teacher at St Margaret’s, says, “Building girls’ confidence in their technical abilities is a key component to encouraging girls to pursue STEM fields later on in their studies and careers.” St. Margaret’s School is Canada’s first girls' STEM school.

"Programs like this have demonstrated success in improving outcomes for girls," according to Andrew MacLean, Acting Director at Science Venture. “We want to see gender parity in fields like computer science and engineering, and this program is another step towards that goal. With the financial and content support from Actua’s national Codemakers program, combined with this outstanding partnership of local organizations, we are excited to contribute to this goal.”

"We are excited to have Girls Learning Code mentors involved with the CoderGirls camps," says Christina Jones from Girls Learning Code Victoria. "Having a personal connection to women in the tech industry helps inspire the campers to see possibilities for their futures."

Codemaker CoderGirl camps give girls the chance to discover the world of code, building critical computer science and computational thinking skills in a fun and inspiring environment. Through hands-on, collaborative, project-based learning, girls will end each day having built something new. Camp participants will design games, build robots, create apps, and even do some 3D modelling. Most importantly, no programming experience is required!

Codemakers:CoderGirl Camps are offered the weeks of July 4 – 8 and July 11 – 15. These camps are now full, but any additional vacancies will be posted on the Eventbrite registration site. There is limited availability in other SMS summer camps: check stmarg.ca/girls-summer-camp

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[link to original release]

St. Margaret’s School is an independent, day and boarding school for girls located in Victoria, BC. Established in 1908, SMS is an international centre for STEM learning and girls’ leadership development, providing empowering education from junior kindergarten to grade 12 (Boarding: Grades 7-12). Learn more about STEM at SMS.

UVic’s Science Venture is a non-profit organization that offers hands-on, minds-on science, engineering and technology learning opportunities for youth in grades 1 through 12. Science Venture is a proud network member of Actua. Learn more at scienceventure.ca

Actua is Canada's largest national STEM outreach charity.  Codemakers is a national program delivered by Actua, in partnership with Google Canada to transform the way youth engage with computer science. From 2015-2017, 100,000 youth across Canada will be engaged in digital skill building experiences that move them from being consumers of technology to producers of technology. Learn more at actua.ca and actua.ca/codemakers

Girls Learning Code is the youth arm of Ladies Learning Code, a national non-profit dedicated to teaching women and girls computer engineering skills through accessible workshops. Learn more at ladieslearningcode.com