November 2013

Science: It’s a Family Affair is more than the title of our new guide for parents. It’s a message that pays tribute to the importance of family engagement in children’s love of learning. From visits to local parks to talks around the dinner table, there are easy and fun ways to spark a love of science. These conversations and outings just might inspire the future engineer or computer scientist.

Parents can make a difference in their child’s future through the toys and activities they provide. Toys can turn a kid on to a new interest and possibly a lifelong passion that leads to a career in science or engineering. Toys like Legos, GoldieBlox, and Roominate encourage kids to tinker and build spatial skills. Microscopes and science kits spark questions and encourage kids to wonder why....

Every few years, it seems like a conversation about role models, specifically role models for girls, comes up in popular media. Recently Katy Perry revived this conversation, saying last weekend in an NPR interview,

“…a lot of people see me as a role model but I'd like to kind of turn that around and say I appreciate that but I'd like to be seen as an inspiration. Because a role model, I think, will fail you. I mean, I couldn't tell kids when it's time for them to try things or do things. I mean, that's not my role.”

In my opinion, being an inspiration is the same as being a role model. Also, I think it’s too bad that Katy Perry thinks that role models “will fail you”. The only way for a role model to fail, in my view, is to give the impression that their way is the ‘best’ way, or the ‘only’ way.

Every day here at Techbridge, we work with girls to help empower them to fulfill their dreams. A huge part of that work is talking to women about being role models for girls. Techbridge has 14 years of experience working with hundreds of role models to help inspire thousands of girls to build the future they want to see....