Jefferson County Public Library announces winners of the 2018 Girls-in-STEM competition

Attention: This post is over 1 years old and the information may be out of date.Attention: This post is over 1 years old and the information may be out of date.

Meet the winners of Jefferson County Public Library’s (JCPL) 2018 Girls-in-STEM competition:

  •   First Place Awards:
    • Sasha Bandock and Sophia Eakes, Vertical Garden project
    • Kyra Jordan, Ryleigh Lavigne and Libby Girard, Lucky the Robot project
  • Second Place Award:
    • Gabby Macerelli, Norah Schumacher, Maddie Blair, Space-saving Homes project
  • Third Place Award:
    • Kit Arbuckle, Paige Farewell, Kyra Warnecke, Lilly Betsor, CO2 in Limestone project
  • Honorable Mention:
    • Cassi Valverde, Elise Henderson, Mikyla Magrid, Robots Save Lives project

“This was a tough competition, and all of the entries were truly impressive,” said Lizzie Gall, Golden Library manager. “These young women are to be congratulated for their creativity and commitment. It’s inspiring to witness the talent and potential of this upcoming generation of innovators.”

The Girls-in-STEM competition, sponsored by Jefferson County Public Library | Golden and Verizon Wireless, challenged Jefferson County girls in grades five through eight to use science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) to create innovative solutions to everyday problems.

More than 60 girls participated, entering 27 projects, ranging from Ocean Clean Up to Bomb Shelters in Syria. Projects were judged by DECTech students from Colorado School of Mines, and winners were honored on Thursday, March 8 at the annual International Women’s Day Luncheon, sponsored by IX Power Foundation and the City Of Golden. In recognition of the first place winners, Verizon Wireless donated $1000 to Bell Middle School.

“We love this event,” Gall continued. “This is our second annual Girls-in-STEM competition, and this year was bigger and better than ever. In fact, we hope to expand it to other libraries in 2019.”

Currently, JCPL offers frequent STEM programming at two locations:

  • The Golden Library offers STEM Girls on select Mondays at 4 p.m., providing young girls an open and nonjudgmental place to play and learn. The events are led by members of the Bell Middle School Girls in iSTEM club.
  • The Belmar Library in Lakewood offers a STEAM Punks program on Thursdays at 4 p.m. This program invites students in grades 3-6 to explore creative problem solving with weekly adventures in science, technology, arts and math.