Alexandria City Public Schools was awarded $20,000 from the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia’s Business Women’s Giving Circle to offer the STEMinist Club to middle school girls at Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 IB School and Francis Hammond Middle School. The STEMinist Club is designed to engage historically underserved middle school female students in STEM enrichment activities to spark and nurture an interest in and enthusiasm for STEM.

Fifty-five participating middle school girls will be immersed in weekly one-hour sessions of coding and robotics and one-hour mentoring sessions that will take place during the after-school LINK Club programs. Not only will the girls served by the STEMinist Club have the opportunity to learn advanced coding and robotic skills, but the program facilitators, mentors and guest speakers will be Black, Hispanic and other women of color who will serve as positive STEM role models to the students.

The STEMinist Club is made possible through partnerships with women-led community organizations Boolean Girl, Fly Minds and Jireh’s Place.

This content is contributed by ACPS.