Middle School Girls Invited to Sally Ride Science Festival

PASADENA, Calif. – Sally Ride says women make up only 19 percent of the science, engineering, and technology workforce. The roots for this, she says, run deep: the physicist and America's first female astronaut says that in the 4th grade, the number of girls and boys who like math and science is about the same. But by 8th grade, twice as many boys as girls show an interest in these subjects.

Ride has devoted a good portion of her life to improving the percentage of women in science. One of her efforts, the Los Angeles Sally Ride Science Festival, will be held on Saturday, March 29, on the campus of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. While all are welcome, the festival is directed at girls in grades 5 through 8, their parents, and their educators.

This will be the second year the festival takes place at Caltech, and is one of a number of such festivals that occur around the country. The festivals are designed to pique the interest of middle school girls, a group that for a variety of reasons begins to drift from their natural interests in science and math.

The Los Angeles festival will feature keynote speeches by Sally Ride and Los Angeles Times science writer K. C. Cole; workshops will be led by local female scientists and engineers; there will be a street fair with booths, exhibits, food, music, and a raffle. There is also a special adult track of workshops for parents and educators.

The children's workshops will include such topics as "Animal Friends: What a Vet Knows and Does"; "Medical Researchers: From the Lab to the Patient"; "Making Friendly Robots"; "Exploring the Seas: Antarctica and Beyond"; "A Tumble through Time: How You Developed from a Single Cell"; and "The Mars 2003 Rover Mission: Exploring the Red Planet."

For adults, the workshop topics will be "Hands on Family Science"; "Nurturing Their Inquisitiveness: Exploring the Science Experience"; "The 'Trek' to Gender Equity: How Are We Doing? "; and "Facing the Music: College and Finances!"

Ride, a member of the Caltech Board of Trustees, became the first American woman to orbit Earth when she flew aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1983. Her second flight was also aboard Challenger in 1984, and she was training for a third mission when the spaceship exploded shortly after liftoff in 1986.

Ride was a member of the team chosen to investigate the Challenger explosion, and this month was also appointed a member of the NASA investigative board for the recent explosion of the space shuttle Columbia. She is the only person to have been named to both panels.

In 1987 Ride left the astronaut corps and is currently a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego. She is also the founder, president, and CEO of Imaginary Lines, Inc., which created the festival, and is intended to provide support for the large numbers of girls and young women who are, or might become, interested in science, math, engineering, and technology. Programs include the Sally Ride Science Festivals; TOYchallenge®, where teams of children design and create a toy or game; and the Sally Ride Science Club®-- a national club created to keep middle school girls engaged in science adventures by connecting them to people, information, and attitudes that will nurture their relationship with science at a critical time in their lives.

Registration on the day of the event is $25, and begins at 11:30 a.m.; the festival runs from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There is a $20 registration fee if paid in advance. The deadline for pre-registration is March 27 and can be done online at www.SallyRideFestivals.com, or by calling 1-800-561-5161. The cost will include full festival participation, souvenirs, a snack, and lunch.

The Los Angeles Festival is presented in association with Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The event's sponsors include Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, the Aerospace Corporation, and Caltech. For more information on Sally Ride Science Club Festivals and festival registration, visit www.SallyRideFestivals.com. For information on Imaginary Lines Inc. and the Sally Ride Science Club, visit www.ImaginaryLinesInc.com.