2-week STEM program helps young girls in St. Paul dream big

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Some driven young girls within St. Paul Public Schools are not taking any breaks from learning this summer. Fifth and sixth graders wrapped up a two week summer program learning STEM, which is science, technology, engineering and math.

The program is called "Project Scientist," which was founded by Minnesotan Sandy Marshall, who has taken the program country-wide.

This summer program is happening at Global Arts Plus School in St. Paul. The goal is to change the narrative about who can pursue careers in math and science.

"When I was younger, I wanted to be a scientist, but I didn't have the confidence to because I always heard that women can't be a scientist," said Elizabeth Martinez-Mota, one of the young participants in this program.

Through the two-week program, the soon-to-be-teenagers are learning all about STEM. 

Sixth grader Amara Satodji and her team created a project that helps them understand structure and durability.

"Over here we built some structures made out of straws," Satodji said. "We use this pendulum to try and see if we could knock it over."

This helped her find more clarity on career aspirations, "maybe someone who works with robots or an actor," Satodji said.

Building something from nothing led to these girls building enthusiasm for STEM.

"I feel like sometimes we don't always want to do science because we think it's boring, but if you actually get to know and learn about it, I think you could enjoy it,"Satodji said.

Project Scientist has been around for 10 years serving girls in several different states. Their goal is to serve 500,000 girls by the year 2040.