SAN FRANCISCO, (March 19, 2020) – The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) announced this month that Career Girls – a non-profit organization that provides young girls (ages 10-13) with professional, women role models working across all 17 U.S. career clusters and career exploration tools with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to learn from – has been included on the Association’s 2020 list of Notable Children’s Digital Media. Click here for the full list.
The annual list includes organizations that provide real-time, dynamic, and interactive media content for children 14 years of age and younger that enables and encourages active engagement and social interaction, while informing, educating, and entertaining in exemplary ways.
“Research shows girls start losing interest in STEM in middle school, but they’re more likely to stay on track with their math and science studies if they see successful women who work in fields that utilize math and science,” said Linda Calhoun, Career Girls Founder and Executive Producer. “Our content is being used in 232 countries around the world (on- and off-line) and is available in 18 languages. That way, every girl, regardless of their background or location, has access to real women who inspire them to reach for the stars.”
Additionally, Careergirls.org provides short “Empowerment Lesson” videos that teach girls softs skills like integrity, leadership and choosing the right friends. It also offers ready-to-use toolkits that parents, teachers, guidance counselors, group leaders, and mentors can use that emphasize the lessons learned in the role model videos.
“Building a customized curriculum is more than a notion,” said Michael Lambert, City Librarian for the San Francisco Public Library. “We’ve known about Career Girls over the past couple years and are planning to conduct a training workshop with their team and our Youth Librarians. We’re excited to learn first-hand how to leverage their curriculum to educate young people. It’s engaging content and accessible for any educator or parent to just pick up and use.”
This year mark’s Career Girls’ debut on the ALSC’s Notable Children’s Digital Media list. Other organizations on this year’s list include, Aquation: The Freshwater Access Game produced by the Smithsonian, the STEM app Jet’s Bot Builder from PBS Kids and the website and app OurStory Kids created by We Need Diverse Books, among others.
Visit Careergirls.org for more information and to download your Career Girls Toolkit today.
About Career Girls
Career Girls® is a free, non-commercial, online platform that features more than 12,000 short video clips of 700 diverse women role models sharing career and educational advice to inspire young girls to expand their horizons, improve their academic performance and dream big about their futures. Launched in 1996, Career Girls is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit organization.
About the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
ALSC is the world's largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. From creative programming and best practices to continuing education and professional connections—ALSC members are innovators in the field of children's library service. The ALSC's network includes more than 4,000 children's and youth librarians, children's literature experts, publishers, education and library school faculty members, and other adults dedicated to engaging communities to build healthy, successful futures for all children.
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