Even More Girls and Tech

I spend my whole day looking at after-school programs that engage kids in science and technology, but even I am amazed at the media coverage that seems to be surrounding programs that make STEM fun for girls. I think this is my third post on the subject. Here is a story about a YWCA TechGYRLS program being implemented in Delaware.

Clearly there is no shortage of interest in these programs from the press and presumably from parents. It is also likely that these programs are effective - a national organization like YWCA usually builds in evaluation to ensure that. So, the big challenge becomes scale. How do we make sure that programs like these are available to all of the 6 million children in after-school and 15 million more who would attend after-school if it were available in their community? The answer includes more money, but it also requires many, many more people to staff the programs, and an infrastructure to prepare that staff and help them share the practices that make their programs great. In the meantime, I hope the media coverage continues and that I keep hearing about these great programs.