A Stellar 1st day of GO-GIRL!

Saturday, February 2nd, 2013

Well, we are off and running! Just looking at the girls in their groups by the end of the day today, you would never know that they were perfect strangers this morning.

The day was spent getting to know one another and the mentors.  What better way to do get to know one another than to play icebreakers!

One of the icebreakers was called, "Honey if you love me, will you please smile for me?" In this exercise, all of the students stood in a circle while one student went to someone she hoped she could make smile (the point of the game being not to smile, but that was near impossible for everyone-the giggles were contagious!). If the participant smiled, the smiler (then "it") would continue to ask someone else this question and hope that the next person would smile. This activity broke the ice between girls who were not to familiar with each other and were out of their comfort zone. It was a very easy-going first day that helped the girls get comfortable with everyone and their new environment. By the end of the day, the girls went from being strangers to forming long-term friendships! The laughing and giggling was heard from every classroom throughout the day as more games and icebreakers ensued.

Also, the girls learned about graphs and how to analyze and interpret them, which will come in handy later in the semester as the girls will be researching a topic, administering surveys, and analyzing data. At noon, the girls enjoyed a buffet-style lunch in the Towers dorm dining hall. After lunch, the girls went back to their classrooms, paired up with a partner and were given a Macbook. They used the computers to take an online survey regarding futures careers and other interesting topics.

Finally, the girls came up with team names for their groups. We're proud to present our GO-GIRL groups for the Winter 2013 semester:

Group 1 (Mentors Becky & Taylor): Queen Bee Yellow Jackets
Group 2 (Mentors Macy & Radha): Invincible Investigators
Group 3 (Mentors Jodi & Mary): TTYL (Talented Team of Young Ladies)
Group 4 (Mentors Fayzha & La'Shana): FBI Girls (Fabulous, Beautiful, Intelligent)
Group 5 (Mentors Nina & Sarah): SM&ART (Science, Math, and Art)
Group 6 (Mentors Melissa & Terrel): H4 (High Heels High Hopes)

Looking forward to our 2nd day! :)

G^3 Nano - GO-GIRLs Go Nano

Saturday, May 14th, 2011

We here at GO-GIRL are excited to have just held a really cool event under our latest initiative, Operation Keeping in Touch (KiT). The purpose of this new addition to the GO-GIRL program was to provide more opportunities for GO-GIRLs and their parents to investigate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) topics and careers.

This event was hosted by the Wayne State University Chemistry department. During this all day workshop, GO-GIRLs explored how very, very, small devices can be used to solve BIG medical, computational, and energy problems. Girls made their own nanomaterials and discovered ways these materials can be used to help make the world a better place. The day included a pizza & salad lunch, a chance to reconnect with friends, and opportunities to work (almost entirely 1-on-1) with current WSU students and faculty in their chemistry laboratories. The day rounded up with a final game of Nano BINGO, testing the girls' knowledge gained throughout the course of the day, complete with prizes!

In the morning, parents joined us for some community learning as well. In the WSU Undergraduate Library (UGL) some of our wonderful library science folks showed us the ins and outs of MEL.org and how to navigate this wonderful online resource. This is a great tool for parents and students alike! Then, our fabulous representative from the WSU Office of Admissions, Sylvia, held a Parent Café revolved around our GO-GIRLs of all ages and their pursuit for college. Some key themes were scholarships, social networking as a way of sharing information about the college application process, and timelines for applying to college.

Overall, our GO-GIRL staff and volunteers were so pleased with the turn out and the enthusiasm and engagement of our GO-GIRLs and their parents. We hope y'all feel the same!