*Guest Blog Post by Edgar Monroy and Evelina Elwood, PLTW teachers at Bret Heart Middle School and Hayward High School
Earlier this school year, we had the opportunity to attend the Girls Lead The Way (GLTW) STEM Summit at Chevron’s facility in San Ramon, California, along with 25 of our 8th and 9th grade students. We were truly inspired to witness the impact of bringing 8th and 9th grade girls from the East Bay area together to see themselves in engineering careers.
We co-teach PLTW Gateway and PLTW Engineering in Hayward, California. Students in our classrooms engage in a variety of hands-on experiences, and we discuss how this relates to what professional engineers face in their workplace. The GLTW opportunity provided by Chevron perfectly complements classroom learning for girls in the East Bay – this year, 150 girls attended the event from eight PLTW middle and high schools.
The 7th annual event was co-led by Chevron and Bay Area LEEDs and included a keynote address from Silicon Valley Elite Manufacturing, Inc.’s Vice President of Operations and Business Development Christine Holly Ngo; a presentation from Chevron’s Health, Environment, and Safety Specialist Janel Edwards and John Doyle; and two separate STEM hands-on activities. This experience would not be possible without the 25 STEM women professionals who acted as role models throughout the day. They shared their education and career journeys, reinforced the importance of the work-readiness competencies and helped to guide our girls through the hands-on STEM workshops.
We believe that opportunities like GLTW — which complement classroom learning and introduce girls to women in the engineering field — will inspire the next generation of female STEM professionals. Our students had the chance to meet and collaborate with women working in STEM careers, encouraging them to see themselves in similar roles in the future. During the summit, our girls were fortunate to connect with the keynote speaker, Christine Holly Ngo, and invited her to visit our after-school program, FemMakers, designed to empower young women in STEM. This experience highlights the power of networking in fostering lasting professional relationships.
"The Girls Lead The Way STEM Summit's keynote speaker really resonated with me and showed me that girls like me can go a long way,” one of our students who attended the event shared with us. “Being able to follow up with her when she visited our program was inspiring."
PLTW Note: Chevron, a PLTW Transformative Partner, has supported PLTW students and teachers since 2009 through the PLTW Grants program benefiting schools near several Chevron business units across the U.S. They have also sponsored professional development events, supported special projects such as the translation of PLTW Launch and PLTW Gateway curriculum materials to Spanish, and provided hands-on learning opportunities through design challenges and local events like Girls Lead The Way.
