Storyboard / Twin Cities PBS Receives National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant

Back to Storyboard Posts

Twin Cities PBS Receives National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant

NSF Extends Support of Gender Equity-Focused Programming for Minnesota’s Technical Education Providers

August 6, 2018

Saint Paul, Minn. (August 2, 2018) – The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) a $116,000 grant to supplement and expand programming around its program SciGirls Strategies: Gender Equitable Teaching Practices in Career and Technical Education Pathways for High School Girls.

SciGirls Strategies, a multiyear initiative around gender equitable engagement in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), specifically focuses on high school-level career and technical education (CTE). CTE programs provide instruction around technology, engineering and trades not traditionally pursued by women. SciGirls Strategies’ goal is to increase the number of high school girls, particularly ethnic minorities, who are recruited and retained in these traditionally male CTE-STEM pathways. To achieve this goal, TPT has provided 50 high school educators and guidance counselors from 18 schools in the Twin Cities and Western Wisconsin with instruction around gender equitable teaching strategies, and also trained 50 professional women from non-traditional occupations to act as role models for youth. To date, SciGirls Strategies programming has engaged over 750 high school girls, preparing and inspiring them around non-traditional CTE-STEM studies and careers.

The new NSF award allows TPT to leverage SciGirls Strategies content into a Train-the-Trainer program, which will significantly expand the number of educators and role models reached, and will foster greater program sustainability. A Train-the-Trainer workshop will be implemented with Minnesota and Wisconsin educators in summer 2019. Workshop participants will in turn instruct colleagues within their own school districts, preparing them to implement gender equitable CTE-STEM strategies during the 2019-2020 academic year. Program participants will also employ TPT’s SciGirls Strategies media content, including Real Women, Real Jobs, a video series featuring women in non-traditional fields, and SciGirls Snapshots, short films for STEM educators on gender equitable and culturally responsive instructional approaches.

SciGirls Strategies programming is based on SciGirls, TPT’s national PBS project combining an Emmy® award- winning television program, multiple websites, educational outreach and professional development. All SciGirls resources work in concert to address a singular but powerful goal: to inspire, enable, and maximize STEM learning and participation for all girls, with an eye toward future STEM careers.

SciGirls Strategies is directed by TPT’s Rita Karl; Dr. Brenda Britsch from the National Girls Collaborative and Dr. Siri S. Anderson from St. Catherine University. For more information, including how to participate in 2019 SciGirls Strategies programming, please contact Alex Dexheimer at [email protected].

About Twin Cities PBS

Twin Cities PBS (TPT)’s mission is to enrich lives and strengthen our community through the power of media. Established in Saint Paul 58 years ago, TPT now operates as a public service media organization that harnesses a range of media tools to serve citizens in new ways — with multiple broadcast channels, online teaching resources, educational outreach and community engagement activities.

For over thirty years, TPT has been public television’s national leader in inspiring young people, especially girls and youth of color, around the pursuit of STEM studies and career paths. Landmark media projects such as the long-running series Newton’s Apple and DragonflyTV have also provided parents, educators and community leaders with the resources they need to teach, support and empower the next generation of STEM superstars. We have continued that tradition of excellence with SciGirls. For more information, visit TPT online, follow TPT on Facebook and Twitter. Watch SciGirls on pbskids.org, follow SciGirls on Facebook and @SciGirls on Twitter.

About the National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports education and research across all fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  In addition to providing major support for SciGirls, the NSF supports other science and math programs on PBS and pbskids.org, including DragonflyTV, Peg + Cat, Design Squad Nation and Plum Landing. Visit here for more information on NSF activities.

###

Contact:

Kristin Pederson, Director of STEM Project Development and Communications

651-229-1288 | [email protected]

© Twin Cities Public Television - 2018. All rights reserved.

Comments

Read Next

Top
To Top