PUBLIC BROADCASTING IS ADVANCING YOUNG WOMEN'S INTEREST IN SCIENCE

A local Ohio program to interest middle school-aged Girl Scouts in the basics of broadcasting science and technology has caught fire nationwide.

Toledo Public Broadcasting's Tech Trek science education and career-building mentoring program for adolescent women is being embraced nationwide by 50 other public broadcasting facilities. The program is funded by a National Science Foundation grant.

Partnering with local Girl Scout councils, the University of Toledo and the Toledo Center of Science and Industry, WGTE-TV FM in Toledo, Ohio is using its radio and television facilities to introduce young women in middle school to the characteristics of broadcasting which employ elements of mathematics, science and technology. The aim is to increase the interest and confidence among young women to enter scientific fields.

Staff members at the Toledo station have developed an informal curriculum, along with a strong mentoring component, to encourage women to further their studies and to seek careers in the sciences and engineering.