Girl Scout Erin Lawler of New Castle has been selected as a 2008 National Young Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of the USA for her exceptional Girl Scout Gold Award Project titled “GEMS: Girls Empowered by Math and Science.”
The Charter School of Wilmington student is one of just 10 Girl Scouts in the nation each year to be selected as a National Young Woman of Distinction.
Lawler and the other nine young women will gather in Indianapolis, Ind. Oct. 29 for the Young Women of Distinction event, where they will attend a recognition dinner, leadership session, and networking events with prominent women in and outside of the Girl Scouts organization.
The event will coincide with the 2008 National Girl Scouts Council Session/51st Convention, at which 11,000 Girl Scouts will be present.
“The Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay is incredibly proud of Erin,” said Anne T. Hogan, chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council. “On behalf of the Council, I would like to extend my congratulations to Erin and her mother, Teri.”
To earn her award, Lawler coached approximately a dozen girls from elementary and middle schools in the Wilmington HOPE Zone to design, engineer, build and program a robot in preparation for the FIRST Lego League Regional Competition at the University of Delaware.
Her Girl Scout Gold Award project eventually became the pilot of a Council-led after-school camp program that teaches girls about these fields through hands-on experiments.
According to several national studies, there still remains a gender gap in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Fewer women than men go on to earn degrees in these fields, and even fewer pursue higher degrees and careers.
The Girl Scouts, therefore, is dedicated to narrowing this gender gap by providing STEM programming for girls to increase their awareness, knowledge and skills in these areas, and open doors to related career opportunities.
To learn more about Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council, visit www.GSCB.org or call (800) 341-4007.
