Titans’ Derrick Henry builds bridges with girls at STRIVE
First impressions
The NFL’s best running back Derrick Henry made a new record during the Titans 27-17 win against the Packers last week. Henry, whose elite talent was on display in front of a national audience Thursday night, rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown — while also catching two passes for 45 yards (that included a key 42-yard grab on a Titans’ scoring drive). The coup de grâce came as Henry threw a three-yard touchdown pass (his second completion of the night) to tight end Austin Hooper and, ultimately, served the game-winning score.
Henry became the first player with at least 20 carries, two completions, a rushing touchdown and a touchdown pass in the same game since 1983 when the immortal Walter Payton did so. Like Payton, Henry is the best running back of his era, and his performance Thursday night should have added him to the list of players being considered for league MVP.
But Henry isn’t worried about accolades for himself, though. The former Heisman Trophy winner is, instead, focused on helping the Titans continue their 7-3 winning streak.
A perfect fit
Henry represents excellence both on and off the field of play.
Recently, Henry spent a day building bridges made of Popsicle sticks meant to teach engineering design concepts and help female middle school students at STRIVE Collegiate Academy see the value of pursuing their interest in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and related fields (STEM+).
“Sport matters but what really matters is leveling the playing field for girls,” Henry said during a recent one-on-one with Dr. Kim. “I’m blessed to be able to use my platform to help Play Like a Girl deepen its work toward making this happen in our lifetime.”
Challenge accepted
Henry did what is second nature on the sports turf outdoors. Yup, he tossed a few balls and taught the girls a few winning moves. But he didn’t stop by for football alone. Henry was on campus for Play Like a Girl Day – and a fun and meaningful lesson in STEM+.
With the help of Henry and Bridgestone Americas employee volunteers, students learned how to engineer bridges using Popsicle sticks. Students worked in small groups to design and build a bridge to withstand weight, be sturdy, and with the least amount of resources possible. As a team, students were challenged to take initiative in proposing, designing, building, and evaluating their finished products to their peers. Each bridge was evaluated on effectiveness, design, creativity, and aesthetics.
This STEM+ lesson explores basic engineering concepts as well as challenges students to design and build their own versions of contemporary bridges. This project has been used in the past as a way to develop innovative bridges and has impacted the design of many bridges we see today.
3D Printing with MakerGirl
Play Like a Girl has teamed up with Adventure Science Center and MakerGirl to take local girls (ages 9-13) on an exciting adventure into the world of 3D printing.
Learn how 3D printing is used in animal and space science. Meet inspiring women in STEM+ careers including the female mathematician at NASA whose calculations were critical to the Apollo 11 spaceflight. And what’s best…design your very own 3D prints using the creative freedom to design anything you can dream of.
It’s fun—and FREE!
3D Printing with MakerGirl
Play Like a Girl has teamed up with Adventure Science Center and MakerGirl to take local girls (ages 9-13) on an exciting adventure into the world of 3D printing.
Learn how 3D printing is used in animal and space science. Meet inspiring women in STEM+ careers including the female mathematician at NASA whose calculations were critical to the Apollo 11 spaceflight. And what’s best…design your very own 3D prints using the creative freedom to design anything you can dream of.
It’s fun—and FREE!
Play Like a Girl Field Day: INDY
Sat • May 14 • 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 4790 West 16th Street, Indianapolis
Play Like a Girl and INDYCAR invite girls (ages 9-15) and their guardians out to the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway to explore, imagine and learn together during the 2022 GMR Grand Prix, May 14th.
Attendees will experience the sights and sounds of America’s premier open-wheel racing series first-hand through an incredible afternoon of activities, showcasing women role models in motorsports and career paths and opportunities for girls in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. From a behind-the-scenes tour of the paddock to a chance to watch female race car driver Tatiana Calderon and the #11 AJ Foyt racing team on the race track, girls will leave empowered by unlimited possibilities.
Space is limited for this chaperoned event. A parent or guardian must remain at the speedway for the duration of the event. Students will meet up with a parent or guardian at 3:00 p.m. to enjoy the GMR Grand Prix.
Girls in Aviation Day - Nashville
It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Girls in Aviation Day!
Play Like a Girl will host a group of 10 girls to attend Girls in Aviation Day - Nashville. Plan to attend this fun-filled event on Saturday, March 19, 2022, from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.
Ticket includes lunch. Participants will earn an Aviation Fun Patch, learn about aviation careers, and meet positive women role models. Space is limited so register today!
More info available at www.WAI.org/girls-aviation-day
Meet Hannah Selders
Play Like a Girl Alumna Turned College Intern Epitomizes The Power of Mentorship
Hannah Selders has been involved with Play Like a Girl since the tender age of 10. In fact, it was at her second Play Like a Girl event where she would meet her future mentor, Sherrell.
“That was a life-changing moment for me,” Hannah says. “She was the big sister that I never had growing up. Over the years, we would attend events together, and she was always there to support me inside and outside of Play Like a Girl.”
Hannah says that although she was involved with other programs growing up, she never felt the same keen sense of connection and belonging that she did with Play Like a Girl.
“I was given the chance to stay active through sports while being creative with arts and crafts,” she says. “I was having so much fun, and I also had my mentor. Sherrell always made sure I was OK, and I knew that we could talk about anything.”
Hannah says her bond with her mentor instilled within her a self-confidence and self-worth that has stayed with her, inspiring her to prioritize mentorship as an adult.
“I learned how to be confident in any room that I walk into,” she says. “Play Like a Girl always reminded me that I deserve a seat at every table. No matter how hard things get, I know I can overcome them.”
Now a sophomore at Hampton University in Virginia, Hannah is a business administration major in the school’s five-year M.B.A. program, with a minor in music. It’s not often that a college student already boasts the title of CEO, but then again, this isn’t just any college student. EsiNiara is Hannah’s homemade jewelry and accessory business that she built, in part, to inspire young girls to harness their creativity.
The poster child for our mission, Hannah is currently interning with Play Like a Girl to help put the “art” in STEM+ by demonstrating the value art brings to STEM through a series of blogs, videos and social posts.
“From fashion tips to how to find your personal style, I want girls to let their creativity shine through everything they do,” she says. “I have the responsibility of showing girls how art plays a significant role in STEM/STEAM and how to incorporate art into other fields and industries, while learning about it more through my research.”
Hannah’s work with Play Like a Girl is not only a testament to the quiet power of mentorship, but also a reminder of how artists and scientists make natural partners by approaching problems with the same open-mindedness, curiosity and fearlessness. After all, DaVinci himself said: “Art is the queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world.”
Once she graduates, Hannah hopes to land a job working as a marketer in the fashion industry. Whatever direction her career takes, one thing is for sure: She already possesses the poise and tenacity to succeed at whatever she sets out to accomplish.
Girls Who Tech
About
Girls Who Tech is a three-day program designed to inform girls about the technology-driven changes shaping our future and inspire them to be a part of that change. Participants will discuss key transformational technologies and learn about the skills and jobs of the future to envision the possibilities in the world of tomorrow.
Event Details
Grades: Rising 8th - 12th
Date: June 21 - 23, 2021
Time: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center | 104 Claude Yates Dr, Franklin, TN
Cost: $150 (lunch provided)
Early Bird Discount: $125 using code EARLY in the month of May!
Size: 25 participants
2021 Program Overview and Objectives
Day #1: Exponential Technologies & Innovations
We live in a world where technology is growing at an exponential rate. We have seen more change in the last 50 years than in the previous 1000 years.
Students will learn about exponential technologies, current breakthroughs in science and technology and discuss the profound impact on our lives and the world. Students will also get to play and interact with cutting-edge technologies such as VR/AR, Robotics, A.I., IoT gadgets igniting their imagination and developing their sense of what is possible in today’s technology.
Day #2: Artificial Intelligence and Technology Ethics
We live in the age of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), where decisions affecting our lives - where we go to college, where we shop or eat, the type of ads and information we see - are all increasingly being made for us by machines. Those machines are developed by software engineers and other technology professionals, only approximately 25% of whom are women.
The lack of women’s perspectives in the technology field introduces unconscious gender bias into these technologies and limits the technological innovations that could be made to benefit women.
Students will learn about the topic of Artificial Intelligence, its ethical implications, how algorithms can be designed with gender bias, and what we can do to help reshape technology to work for everyone.
Day #3: Future Jobs & Future Skills
By 2030, up to 45% of tasks workers perform can be automated using current technology. While technologies will destroy many jobs, they will also create many new ones. Widespread innovation is continuing to give birth to new industries, all of which are sources of new jobs.
Students will learn about some of the most exciting emerging jobs and industries of the future while learning about the skills needed to help them adapt and thrive in an ever-changing world.
What to expect
- Engage in conversations with industry speakers about key transformational technologies and their impact on our future.
- Learn about Artificial Intelligence and how it works.
- Understand how machines learn and create your own machine learning models.
- Create your interactive computer program using Python.
- Experiment with wearable electronic platforms and create e-textile artifacts while expressing your creativity in a newly found way.
- Meet and greet NAO, our friendly humanoid robot. You will use NAO to learn and practice key concepts in Graphical programming and explore how facial recognition, speech recognition, and motion detection technologies work.
- Meet role models and leaders from different sectors in the technology field.
- Learn about career paths in tech and how to pursue them.
Your Voice is Power Competition
Pharrell Williams, Georgia Tech, Black Girls CODE, and Amazon invite you to engage your students in an inspiring new learning experience that explores the ways music, computer science, and entrepreneurship can be tools to advance racial equity.
Students explore how computer science, music, and entrepreneurship can advance equity. Using Georgia Tech's EarSketch platform, students code a 30 second – 3 minute musical remix using Pharrell's new song "Entrepreneur". Submitted remixes will be judged based on quality of music, code, and messaging by a panel of industry professionals.
In this session students will:
Students create an EarSketch account and gain a basic understanding of the coding platform.
Students hear stories of amazing entrepreneurs who “set their own tempo” before coding their own unique 16 measure song.
For more information and to register, click here.
STEM+ Saturdays
STEM+ Saturdays is a collaborative space where middle school girls get to ideate, create and innovate with the help of women mentors. Each session is hands-on, allowing students to work in teams to design creative new solutions to real-world problems. Sign up today as space is limited!
The STEM Diaries Discovery | November 6th
In this hands-on experience, future STEM superstars will learn how to create a bullet journal diary and fill the first page with information they learn from Emily Bayuk, an entrepreneur and employee for Accenture’s security team. The girls will also receive insight about being an electrical engineering student.
Hour of Code | December 4th
Cleavon Shen from Asurion will teach the principles of how modern company’s run Internet solutions without servers using the latest cloud technologies. Once you have basic knowledge you will then create your own serverless web app.
STEM+ Saturdays
STEM+ Saturdays is a collaborative space where middle school girls get to ideate, create and innovate with the help of women mentors. Each session is hands-on, allowing students to work in teams to design creative new solutions to real-world problems. Sign up today as space is limited!
Batgirl Fashion | October 9th
October is Bat Appreciation Month so things get spooky this STEM+ Saturday! Bat conservationist Dr. Kristen Lear will teach us about the amazing world of bats. Plus, you’ll make your own human-sized bat wings, just in time for Halloween.
The STEM Diaries Discovery | November 6th
In this hands-on experience, future STEM superstars will learn how to create a bullet journal diary and fill the first page with information they learn from Emily Bayuk, an entrepreneur and employee for Accenture’s security team. The girls will also receive insight about being an electrical engineering student.
Hour of Code | December 4th
Cleavon Shen from Asurion will teach the principles of how modern company’s run Internet solutions without servers using the latest cloud technologies. Once you have basic knowledge you will then create your own serverless web app.