All-Girl Teams Rise Up at World Robotics Event

Описание: (3 May 2018) BEING A GIRL ON A ROBOTICS TEAM CAN BE CHALLENGING.
SOUNDBITE: (English) Valerie Alexander, Build a Dream Amazon Warriors:
"There may be situations where you would get pushed aside as a girl or you would be told, 'You can't do this.'"
FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD VALERIE ALEXANDER DOESN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT. ALL OF HER TEAMMATES ARE GIRLS.
SOUNDBITE: (English) Valerie Alexander, Build a Dream Amazon Warriors:
"I'd never used tools or built anything before. And now I'm in this environment, I'm here, I've made so many friends, I've learned so many things."
ALEXANDER IS A MEMBER OF THE BUILD A DREAM AMAZON WARRIORS, WHO IN THEIR ROOKIE YEAR QUALIFIED TO COMPETE FOR THE BIGGEST TITLE IN YOUTH ROBOTICS.
THE ONTARIO-BASED WARRIORS WERE ONE OF HUNDREDS OF TEAMS FROM NEARLY FOUR-DOZEN COUNTRIES COMPETING AT THE FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP IN DETROIT.
IT WASN'T ALL PERFECT …
BUT IT WAS FUN.
WHILE THE AMAZON WARRIORS ENJOYED THE EXPERIENCE, THEIR MENTORS, WHO ALSO ARE ALL FEMALE, RECOGNIZE THAT THIS IS ABOUT MUCH MORE THAN BUILDING AND OPERATING A MACHINE.
SOUNDBITE: (English) Nour Hachem-Fawaz, Build a Dream:
"I always say: 'You can't be what you can't see.' So, if we can't really see other women out there doing these occupations, it's very hard for us to see ourselves in those roles."
WHILE PARTICIPATION HAS SWELLED SINCE FIRST'S INCEPTION NEARLY 30 YEARS AGO, FOUNDER DEAN KAMEN WANTS TO SEE EVEN BIGGER NUMBERS, ESPECIALLY GIRLS.
SOUNDBITE: (English) Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST:
"I will be totally satisfied when the day comes that the number of girls on teams and the number of boys on teams is randomly, statistically identical."
KAMEN AND OTHERS EMPHASIZE THAT THESE YOUNG ROBOT BUILDERS MIGHT VERY WELL ONE DAY HELP ADDRESS THE SHORTAGE OF WORKERS TRAINED IN SKILLS THAT GROWING COMPANIES NEED.
SOUNDBITE: (English) Yvonne Pilon, WEtech Alliance:
"This is the next Rosie the Riveter moment where women are going to be needed to fill those roles. And the jobs of the future are in STEM, so we need to get more women and young girls involved with this at an early stage."
COUNT NATASHA (nuh-TAH'-shuh) STAMLER IN.
THE CAPTAIN OF THE ALL-FEMALE FE (IRON) MAIDENS IS HEADED TO M-I-T LATER THIS YEAR AFTER A FOUR-YEAR CAREER WITH THE BRONX-BASED TEAM.
SOUNDBITE: (English) Natasha Stamler, Fe Maidens:
"Honestly, I would just tell young girls: Just do it. … Try to build things. It can be wood, it can be metal. It doesn't matter. Just try your hand, and as you have fun with your friends you're really learning real-world skills."
SKILLS THAT COULD BRING ROBOTICS GLORY IN THE SHORT-TERM AND JOB SECURITY IN THE LONG-TERM.
MIKE HOUSEHOLDER, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, DETROIT.

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