ORLANDO, Fla. — It's a hands-on opportunity that local Girl Scouts hope ignites a lifelong passion for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

What You Need To Know

  •  Girl Scouts of Citrus American Rocketry Team are preparing for a national competition

  •  Scout leaders say they hope hands-on learning experience spurs a love of STEM

  •  The team coach calls working alongside her Scout daughter an "amazing experience"

The Girl Scouts of Citrus American Rocketry Team is designing, building and testing out a rocket to blast off in a national competition. The challenge will be held in late May outside Washington, D.C., and winners of that competition go on to compete in Paris.

"It's been an amazing experience to share this with my daughter," said Jennifer McDaniel, an engineer by trade who serves as both a troop leader and coach of the American Rocketry Team. The group has five members, including McDaniel's daughter, Jesse.

The team used no pre-fab kit, nor read any instructional booklet to craft the vessel. Instead, the girls relied upon digital modeling and methodical testing.

While last year's challenge involved two raw eggs, this year's goal requires the team to fashion a rocket that breaks into two pieces which float down separately.

The girls have to sand down wooden pieces they carefully traced with a thick, black marker, then cut out with an X-ACTO knife. These pieces will soon become the rocket's fins to stablize its journey.

The Scouts work from their home base: a collaborative space at the STEAM Center, opened amid the COVID-19 pandemic, at Camp Mah-Kah-Wee in Chuluota in Seminole County.

It's the perfect backdrop, Jennifer contends, for the Scouts to use their hands, but more importantly, find their footing.

"To show girls that there are girls doing STEAM as well, and that they can get in there and do it themselves," she said. "They have an open workspace that anyone can come to."

"I love seeing more girls and women get into that field. It is a little bit intimidating to see the boys and how everyone says, 'Oh, this is a boy's field,' and stuff," said Jesse, a high school junior. "I like how engineering works and STEM works."

While women make up the majority of workers in health care, when it comes to other STEM jobs — from computing to engineering — women are vastly underrepresented, accounting for 15% to 25% of jobs.

Jesse, who has loved space since the second grade and thrown herself into projects from rockets to robots, said she hopes that changes. She plans to one day follow in the footsteps of both of her engineer parents, but work instead for NASA and help humans discover ways to live on the planet of Mars. 

In the meantime, the Girl Scout ambassador is focusing on helping the youngest members of her team, like middle school student Eleanor, gain confidence.

She's also loving the time she's spending with her mother, before she goes off to college.

"It's a very special experience. I have that support, a mentor who always helps me when I need help," she said.

"It's been exciting to watch her learn, and the lightbulb goes off when her design works, her robot works," said her mother, adding with a chuckle, "And when the rocket launches and does not explode."