Crymes Family STEAM Leadership Center

The Girl Scout Movement is known for building girls of courage, confidence, and character. These young women then go on to make the world a better place. Recent research shows that confidence is a cornerstone of success in STEM professions.

According to data published by the U.S. Census Bureau in January 2021, “Despite making up nearly half of the U. S. workforce, women are still vastly underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce. Women made gains – 8% of STEM workers in 1970 to 27% in 2019 – but men still dominated the field. Men made up 52% of all U.S. workers but 73% of all STEM workers.” At the same time, a troubling trend emerged. While women made gains in computer and engineering occupations, which make up 80% of the STEM workforce, with an increase from 3% in 1970 to 15% in 2019, the percentage of women in computer occupations decreased between 1990 and 2019.

According to EDUDEMIC, an organization that focuses on connecting education and technology, “students who study arts tend to perform better academically than those who do not, but there are further reasons why the arts are an important part of an effective education. Arts help students build confidence, develop motor skills, and hone their decision-making and problem-solving skills.” This reasoning has given rise to STEAM – which incorporates the arts into traditional STEM programming.

Girl Scouts of Citrus Council, with the backing of Barbara Crymes and other major donors, have built a state-of-the-art STEAM Center. The new facility, to be named The Crymes Family STEAM Leadership Center, is in Seminole County at the Mah-Kah-Wee Program Center, which has introduced generations of girls to the area’s natural beauty.

Laptop computers equipped with digital design programs, coding tools, and programs for physics, chemistry, biology, and space exploration will be featured in the lab. There will also be a light chemistry lab, robotics, a 3D printer, rocket building, launch kits, and environmental science projects such as water testing. In addition, a third-floor platform with an elevator will provide opportunities for star gazing and may ignite dreams of space exploration.

The Crymes Family STEAM Leadership Center will not be restricted to Girl Scouts, or just to girls. Girl Scouts of Citrus will work with area schools to reinforce STEAM courses learned in the classroom, making the center available to teachers across the Central Florida region as a field trip destination for students. GSCC is actively seeking additional donors to support the development of the facility, equipment, and its program offerings.  Contact our Fund Development Office to share your specific interests in supporting this pivotal center to help us make space for girls in STEAM professions.