HOPE – Six students at Yerger Middle School have been invited to participate in the 2018 Arkansas Girls of Promise Conference in Little Rock in April. \r\n
\r\nInvitations for the 200 conference seats were based upon essay applications and letters of recommendation. Participants from YMS will include Leslie Rodriguez, Darlene Matamoros, Luz Elena Alvarenga, Rocio Martinez, Za’karreya White, and Brenda Ventura. Paige Shroud will be the alternate for YMS.\r\n
\r\n“These girls had to write two essays and get a letter of recommendation in order to apply, and only 200 girls from Arkansas were chosen,” Melinda Strike, YMS business teacher and sponsor, said.\r\n
\r\nThe April 12-13 conference will be conducted at the Arkansas 4-H Center in Little Rock, where the six YMS students will meet other conference participants for two days of activities focused upon the importance of higher education, dedication to work ethic, and some fun down time.\r\n
\r\n“You will meet others like yourselves and realize it is okay to be a bright, motivated person with big dreams,” the conference acceptance letter states. “You will also meet and learn from women with amazing careers such as scientists, welders, physicians, computer systems engineers, and coders.”\r\n
\r\nThe Girls of Promise program is a project of the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas; and, since 1999, has introduced more than 5,000 eighth grade girls in Arkansas to women with careers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fields, according to the program website.\r\n
\r\n“Findings were reported in 2000 that girls were being actively dissuaded by educators and parents from pursuing higher levels of math and science,” the site notes.\r\n
\r\nThrough the Joan Rule Campbell Girls of Promise Endowment, the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas has been able to financially support the Girls of Promise program, which is particularly directed toward eighth grade girls.\r\n
\r\n“Girls of Promise aims to encourage girls at a time in their life when they tend to lose interest in STEM education,” the website explains. “Eighth grade is a pivotal age when girls begin to internalize negative stereotypes that discourage academic achievement and denigrate those who do not conform to peer expectations and social pressures.”\r\n
\r\nThrough research included in a 2010 report by William Jefferson Clinton School of Public Service graduate Joanna Klak, the Girls of Promise approach has shown positive results in encouraging girls and young women in Arkansas to remain in school and further their studies in STEM fields.\r\n
\r\n“A cadre of volunteers helped conduct the research, inputting data from the first 10 years of Girls of Promise conferences and contacting alumnae to determine the impact of the program on their lives,” the website states. “Data showed that the program works…”\r\n
