March 17 Live Stream of Girls and Science Community Conversation

TAKE PART IN A GIRLS & SCIENCE COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

MARCH 17 AT 5 P.M. ONLINE AT cbsdenver.com (CBS NEWS COLORADO)

Denver—(March 14, 2022) CBS4–KCNC-TV and Girls Inc of Metro Denver recently announced that a Girls & Science Community Conversation will be streamed live on CBS News Colorado on Thursday, March 17, 2022, at 5 pm.  The conversation will feature female mentors who will share their experiences and the importance of encouraging girls and women to pursue careers in STEM fields.  Girls Inc. of Metro Denver’s youth participants will join the conversation.

“Four incredible female mentors will be part of a community conversation that we invite everyone to tune in to on March 17,” Director of Community and Strategic Partnerships Elaine Torres said.  “This is an opportunity for girls of all ages to learn from and be inspired by women in STEM.”

Megan Mountford, with Presenting Sponsor PING Identity, will talk to girls about her career and what school subjects are key to a future STEM career. Mountford said, “My favorite thing to do at work is learn all about topics and then teach others. At Ping, I have been able to use all my favorite skills. As a Support Engineer, I got to help companies keep our software running successfully.  Now, as a Training Lead, I get to help Ping’s software engineers learn and be successful. It’s the best!”

Dagmar Kress is a pilot and lecturer in the Aviation and Aerospace Science Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver where she teaches Theory of Flight and Aviation Fundamentals. She also serves as the head coach for MSU Denver’s Aerobatic Team and is an international world aerobatic pilot who has competed in world championships for both the United States and her native Germany. Kress said, “Some girls might not realize this but aviation is a STEM career. It involves a lot of math, physics, aerodynamics, meteorology, navigation, and aerodynamics.  I want to encourage girls to try lots of different things and I don’t want them to be discouraged. When I was a kid I thought I couldn’t ever be a pilot because, in Germany where I grew up, women didn’t do those kinds of things. If you like it, you can do it!”

Lauren Gilliland is the Senior Director of Gas Operations with Xcel Energy.  She has responsibilities of emergency response functions for employees that deliver 24 x 7 x 365 coverage for public safety for 1.2 million customers. Her advice to girls interested in a STEM career is to follow their passion. Gilliland followed her passion for music as a kid and that led her into exploring a STEM career. She said, “We don’t always know what we want to do when we start college. I decided to study in a field where they are new opportunities for women and natural gas and electricity is one of them!”

Raytheon Intelligence & Space Technical Director Karen Casey is an engineer and is responsible for aligning customer needs with technical solutions. Her love of math and science started when she was in elementary school learning her multiplication tables. When she started college, Casey took an Intro to Math class and had to work her way up to calculus. “Math taught me to solve hard problems,” Casey said. “I had a great teacher in college who gave me a job as a tutor. This was what helped me transition from believing I wasn’t good enough, to believe that not only was I good enough, I could help other people.”

CBS4 Anchor Mekialaya White hosts the 8^th Annual Girls & Science which runs virtually through March 26, 2022.

Free resources, video presentations, and activity kits for girls are available.  Girls and their families can enjoy learning from women working in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math) through a variety of presentations and online resources.

Families can also go online to register for “Girls thINC Outside the Box” activity kits. Girls who subscribe to GIRLS thINC Outside the Box activity kits have access to instructional videos and trained Girls Inc. educators to support their experience at home. Boxes are designed specifically for girls 6-10 years old.

Girls & Science sponsors include Presenting Sponsor PING Identity, Xcel Energy, MSU Denver, and Raytheon Intelligence & Space.  CBS4’s non-profit Partner is Girls Inc. of Metro Denver. Learn more at cbsdenver.com.