High-Tech High Heels North Texas Announces Winter Grantees
High-Tech High Heels has completed our Winter 2020 grant cycle and we are excited to tell you about the programs we have selected to support through our grants of over $200,000! We carefully select programs to receive grants based on their ability to deliver on specific criteria, including: preparing girls academically for successful college study in STEM fields; fostering girls’ interest, confidence and persistence in STEM studies and fields; and producing measurable results that show a positive impact on closing the gender gap.
Design Connect Create (DCC) received a grant to support their AP Physics Camps in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. This two-week summer camp helps prepare girls for high school physics. This camp has demonstrated a proven impact on the number of girls that take and pass an AP Physics exam and an increased interest in STEM careers. The grant from HTHH will fully fund 80 young women from low socioeconomic DFW districts to attend summer physics camp at no cost to the participants.
The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) will deliver STEM Gender Equity training to educators in Mesquite ISD and our grant is making this training possible. NAPE training helps educators identify possible sources of bias, recognize the unique gifts of others, and embrace cultural diversity. After this training is completed, educators will implement NAPE micro-messaging strategies in their classrooms and encourage girls to pursue further study in STEM.
After-School All-Stars (ASAS) North Texas received a grant to deliver the #FemSTEM academic enrichment club which is exclusively for female students at 6 Dallas schools. This club estimated to reach 180 girls. Their holistic after-school programming has a focus on STEM and incorporates academic tutoring, hands-on STEM activities, mentoring, and STEM field trips to give students college & career exposure.
Girls Inc. of Metropolitan Dallas received a grant to fund EUREKA!, a STEM program for girls. These proven STEM activities span five years through a cohort model that combines ongoing hands‐on experiences, mentorships with industry professionals, and activities in a college campus environment for participating girls. Our grant will fund the Eureka! program activities for 80 girls participating in the existing cohort and for the cohort of rising eighth graders. This includes summer program activities and monthly STEM-related activities during the school year.
Art Reaching Out received a grant to fully fund their 4-day Summer STEAM Camp with 20 girls in the 6th to 8th grades from the Young Women’s Preparatory Network. They combine instructional and interactive STEM curriculum with the creation of a blown-glass artwork at Carlyn Ray Design’s glass studio (Art representing the “A” in STEAM). The girls will experience a full STEAM curriculum, including lessons in strength of materials, phases of matters, ionization, optics, chemistry, electricity and circuitry, thermodynamics, glass blowing, glass fusing, and business math.
Friends of Solar Prep is a non-profit organization in support of the Solar Preparatory School for Girls. Our grant funds the purchase of equipment for the school’s MakerSpace. At the center of Solar Prep’s model is its Maker Ed Program, which includes two makerspaces, a cutting-edge Maker Ed curriculum, and integration of Design Thinking into core content. They anticipate the MakerSpace will service 600 girls from Pre-K to 4th grade.
Aggie STEM received a grant to help fund scholarships to their week long residential EmpowHERing STEM Summer Camps. HTHH’s grant will assist in funding high-achieving, economically disadvantaged middle and high school female students for a residential STEM Summer Camp and empower them to pursue STEM fields. This camp provides the girls with access to STEM skills and knowledge of the wide variety of STEM career.
PreFlight Aviation Camp hosts a “Preparing Girls to Takeoff” 5-day overnight aviation/STEM camp in San Marcos, Texas with the goal of creating a transformative experience for girls that uses aviation to build their self-esteem, empower them to reach their goals, and inspire them to become pilots. It also leverages longer term mentoring opportunities after the camps. HTHH’s grant will fund scholarships for Texas girls to attend the 2020 summer camp.
University of Texas at Dallas Jindal School of Management will host the 2020 Getting Involved as Rising Leaders in STEM (G.I.R.L.S.) Symposium. Our grant will fund scholarships to the Symposium for girls in 7-9th grade from Dallas and Richardson ISDs. The goal of the symposium is to inspire and deepen their interest in the innovative world of Information Technology and Systems.
If you are interested in supporting High-Tech High Heels with funding for impactful programs such as these and want to inspire the next generation of girls to pursue college-level degrees in STEM, please consider a recurring or one-time donation here.