GEMS

Thursday was the Girls Exploring Math and Science day long workshop for Big Island 5^th grade girls.  19 workshops were held on various science and math subjects.  Each girl got to go to 3 workshops, got a Tshirt and lunch and saw science exhibitors geared to them.  They had a great day.

Introduction

Cindy from the Canoe Club was the coordinator and recruiter of volunteers for this popular, yearly event.  Her enthusiasm and that of all the volunteers and sponsors make this a well known, effective event.  The Keauhou Beach Resort was the venue.  GEMS was started by the AAUW Kona Chapter.

I got to be a student assistant in workshop #7, called “Create Your Own Green Power Avatar”.  Susan Cox was Green Power Girl.  She was this enthusiastic young gal all dressed up in green hair, fluorescent green boots, a green embroidered cape with windmills, ocean waves, and a big sun designs on it.  She even wore green glasses with green lenses! 

Green Power Girl

Chantal and I held up the #7 sign and marched our 11 to 14 member group of girls three times to our workshop.  Green Power Girl stirred them up about how women need to be the stewards of our planet and promote green energy.  She had a cartoon she produced which explained in power figure stories, how renewable energy can be used to fight our dependence on fossil fuels.  However, she forgot the speakers, so the cartoon was ditched in the second workshop.  She also had a card game with green power super heroes and dangerous menaces that had to be defeated, like “Crimson Tide” (red tide caused by industrial runoff).  GMO’s (genetically modified organisms).  First she had them create their super power to be used to defeat these foes.  One girl’s name was Pu’o which means pearl.  She translated that to a super power being able to transform things.  It was hard for most girls to find their inner super power.  They really didn’t understand GMO or red tides at all.  There wasn't much time to teach, nor was it the point.  Green Power Girl's mission was to get the girls excited, which she did.  She did preface her whole talk by saying that really, the Big Island, is one of the “green” er places in the US.  Each group of girls was different in their interactions and enthusiasm.

Zumba

During lunch, they did Zumba.  The girls really got into that.  Brilliant idea. 

Other workshops near us were learning how to use money and they made a bank; cooking where they calculated measurements and food costs, and GPS fun.  The most popular was about veterinary medicine.  Another health workshop did a dissection – on a green pepper.

The West Hawaii Today covered the event under the front page headline "Anything is Possible" with lots of photos and stories.  It was a fun day for me and all the volunteers, and obviously for the 300 Hawaiian fifth grade girls.