The Urban League of Omaha’s Girls Summer STEAM Academy focuses on exposing underserved, underprivileged girls of color to career fields in Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Arts and Math.
The six-week academy is for high school aged girls and introduces them to an array of careers in the STEAM fields. Girls also have the opportunity to talk to women working in those fields.
Nicole Mitchell is the Coordinator of the Whitney M. Young Jr. Academy & Project Ready at Urban League of Nebraska.
She says at the end of the program, girls will do a two-day job shadow where they go in and follow a woman who is working in one of the STEAM fields.
Mitchell says the program is important because it gives the girls career options they might not be aware of otherwise. She says there are other benefits as well.
"It gives them the real-life, hands-on experience of dealing with science and math as well. Plus, there aren’t many programs like this that deal with girls on the high school level. And building confidence (is another benefit) and letting them know they can pretty much be and do whatever it is they put their mind to that they want to do.”
The Girls Summer STEAM Academy runs through July 14th.
More information is available at www.urbanleagueneb.org/steam/