The Day Katie Couric Came to Parkway!
When the Student Community Development Center I work in at Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice helped start a program partnering with the Girl Scouts to bring motivation and experience to girls interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), it never crossed my mind that our girls would garner national attention. I have been working with Andrea Siegel, a math teacher at Parkway, meeting Wednesdays after school for the past few months to do experiments and talk about career opportunities in STEM fields with twelve of our 9th and 10th grade girls. Two weeks ago we got a call from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania saying that Good Morning America would be doing a special report for the 100th anniversary of the national Girl Scouts organization, and wanted to interview our students about female leadership, girls involvement in science and math, and what their goals are for the future. They said our girls were exemplary students representing the program, and that Couric, a former girl scout herself, wanted to interview them.
The girls were very excited to meet her and the day was dedicated to preparing for the interview and experiment that were to be filmed for the special, which will air tomorrow, January 31st, during Good Morning America.
Cameras are rolling...
Couric was very kind and attentive to all 12 of our students, making sure she asked them all questions and gave them time to explain what they liked about the program and what they hoped for in their own careers. The most touching part of the interview was when some of the girls talked of the feeling of belonging they had with the group, being able to pursue what the truly want to in school without having to bend to the pressures of being “cool.” Many girls displayed a great amount of confidence in their academic abilities, talking about becoming doctors, chefs, and working at Apple to develop new technology.
The stars!
Following the interview, the girls performed an experiment simulating the clean up of an oil spill and had a pinning ceremony to officially welcome the students as Girl Scouts. It was a whirlwind day, but it was great for the girls to have this remarkable opportunity to have their voices be heard across the nation!
Tune in tomorrow morning, and I will be sure to follow up with the clip!