The boss at “Frog-Free People Movers” has asked you to design a way for people to walk without squishing the amphibians after an abundance of rainfall resulted in numerous frogs on the street. Some of the teams attending the seventh annual Girls Learning About Math and Science (GLAMS) were challenged to build a sphere – “think human hamster wheel” – with a hatch so that a person could get in and out. Eighth grade girls – given only straws, newspapers and tape – were up to that challenge. Some created a sphere that held a doll, while others were more ambitious and placed a teammate in their orb. Their creations also had to roll for at least five feet in a straight line.
Girls converged at the El Dorado Conference Center on Tuesday, donned their pink GLAMS T-shirts and looked through their bright green GLAMS “swag” bags filled with a number of items, including bottled water and snacks, generously donated by local and area businesses and individuals.
Approximately 250 girls arrived by school buses from Barton Junior High and West Side Christian School in El Dorado and schools in Hermitage, Bearden, Strong, Crossett, Junction City, Norphlet, Camden, Fordyce, Hamburg, Warren and Parkers Chapel.
It takes about 100 volunteers – speakers, break-out session leaders, team leaders, teachers, guides and GLAMS committee members – to pull off the mission of GLAMS, which is to bring in speakers from the area to inform, entertain and encourage eighth grade girls with respect to careers in science, technology, mathematics and engineering.
Title sponsor of this year’s GLAMS was the Madelyne M. and Edward C. McCarty Fund of the Union County Community Foundation and Martha McCarty Wells, daughter of Madelyne and Edward McCarty, attend the 2017 GLAMS, along with Elise Drake, executive director of the UCCF. Numerous volunteers participated this year from South Arkansas Community College, the El Dorado Education Foundation, El Dorado School District and teachers and team leaders from each of the schools represented by their students – not to mention the women with careers in math, science, technology and engineering, who provided interested, hands-on learning experiences.
After girls were welcomed to the event, they crossed South West Avenue and headed to breakout sessions held in various classrooms at South Arkansas Community College. They learned how to distill soda, participated in a balloon rocket race, made casts and soap with animal track molds, learned about surgical technology, listened to the heartbeats of Bruce the dog and Rhett the cat, created paper towers and watched as babies moved in their mamas during ultrasounds.
During the day, girls heard a variety of break-out speakers such as Rachel Arnold, Vicki Badgley, Andrea Benton, Claudine Carrera, Sandra Chandler, Kelly F. Cook (who had several expectant mothers who agreed to ultrasounds to shows students interested in the medical field), Dr. Fran Davis, Claire Floyd, Ellen Garrett, Dr. Gija Geme, Dr. Nysia George, Linda Goodner, Susan Heilman, Pat Hemphill, Kelly Hines, Maranda Jenkins, Vicki Johnican, Glenda J. Johnson, Dr. Kendrea Jones, Shannon Lausch, Dr. Lucie Loukotkova, Debbie McAdams, Lauren McDonald, Dr. Kirsten McKnight, Jennifer Medlin, Brandy Mendoza, Ambrosia Mishenheimer, Susan Nimmo, Juanita Norful, Dr. Vivian Okoye, Dr. Suzanne Parker, Laura Rogers, LaShonda Traylor, Roslyn Turner, Clair Basak Uzdil, Shelbi Van Pelt, Amanda Wilkinson, Tiffany Wilson and Liz Young.
Speakers included a doctor, nurses, dermatologist, ultrasound technician, flight nurses, education coordinator with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, computer information specialists, environmental engineers, veterinarian, pediatrician, wildlife biologist, optometrists, surgical technology instructor, a chemist for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, multimedia archivist, senior accountants, laboratory director, professor of pharmacy, loan officer, engineer for U.S. Army Corp of Engineers laboratory technician, health specialists, chemistry professor, mathematical statistician, radiologic technologist, geologist, reconciliation accountant, manufacturing engineer at Aerojet Rocketdyne and a director of health management.
The 250 girls clad in pink T-shirts and their teachers, team leaders and other volunteers in green T-shirts, again crossed South West Avenue, back to the El Dorado Conference Center where after lunch, Carolyn Smith, science chair for the El Dorado School District, challenged students to a Balloon Tower test, to see how many balloons they could blow up in an allotted length of time and then tape the balloons together to form a tower. SouthArk balloons had to top the tower, which had to stand on its own long enough to be measured by judges. When the contest was over – several towers had measured over 90 inches – at a frenzied pace, girls really enjoyed popping the balloons.
Girls then walked to SouthArk gym for the final challenges of the day. Teams with names such as Entomology, Microbiology, Botany, Animal Science, Geometry, Pharmacology, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, Robotics, Genetics, Hydrology, Ichthyology and Meteorology, to name a few, were set up at tables with instructions and supplies to complete a task.
Some girls were given straws and tape to make bridges that could withstand the weight of pendulums to determine their strength. Other teams were given gum drops and toothpicks to make a truss bridge that could withstand a truck and pendulums. Plastic straws, duct tape, scissors and newspapers were given to other teams to build a fire tower that was at least four feet tall and could hold the forest ranger.
“The Sky is Falling,” was the name of another challenge to build a light weight, but strong structure large enough for a team member to sit under, but strong enough to withstand small (about a pound) pieces of sky. Supplies included newspapers and tape. Local engineers donated their time and talents to serve as judges to test the various challenges.
At the end of the day, girls had used their imaginations and determined ingenious ways to complete their challenges, while having a “blast” as some described the day, meeting new friends and feeling positive about their abilities to seek jobs in the fields of engineering, math, science and technology.
Other sponsors for this year’s GLAMS included El Dorado Chemical, El Dorado Education Foundation, El Dorado School District, Alice Mahony, Melvin’s Discount Pharmacy, Brad and Jerri Lynn Nokes, Lila Phillips, Glenn Sams, SouthArk, United Way of Union County, Lawrence and Paul Waschka and Sylvia White.
Additional photos of the 2017 GLAMS and videos, created by Heath Waldrop, coordinator of marketing and communications for South Ark, will be available on the college’s website.