The Girl Scouts of North East Ohio will have the opportunity to visit Kent State Nov. 6 to tour the campus and explore the science program.

Kent State will host at least 75 to 100 Girl Scouts Saturday during Sneak-A-Peek Day. Dr. Stacey Gardner-Buckshaw, Girl Scouts of North East Ohio program director, said the Girl Scouts tour several different campuses, but the Kent State event is one of the bigger tours. ?

“At the other schools it is more of a campus tour. We are trying to work with all of the universities as much as we can,” Gardner-Buckshaw said. ?

Dr. Geraldine Hayes-Nelson, assistant vice president for pipeline initiatives and diversity programming at Kent State, said the partnership between Kent State and the Girl Scouts is “perfect” because it will give the Girl Scout participants exposure to programs in the sciences.

She said this partnership will be ongoing, with the high school girls coming Saturday to look at the science program and the middle school girls coming in the spring to explore the fashion program.

“I think early awareness is critical, and it’s an opportunity for Kent State University to show excellence in action,” Hayes-Nelson said. Gardner-Buckshaw said the partnership between Kent State and the Girl Scouts began as a means of trying to give all girls the opportunity to visit college campuses and explore various majors. She also said Kent State chose the programs the girls would see while they visited campus. Gardner-Buckshaw said the idea to look at science majors was based off the popular robotics and stargazing programs offered by the Girl Scouts. ?

“What makes Girl Scouts so special is we give girls the opportunity to look at careers in which girls are underrepresented,” Gardner-Buckshaw said. ?

The other campuses the girls will visit include the University of Akron, Marine County Community College and Walsh University. ?

The Girl Scouts has six program focus areas: environmental awareness, healthy living, arts, community engagement, financial literacy and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). “What makes the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio excited about this partnership with Kent State University is it introduces (the girls) to college campuses and majors that could lead to high paying careers,” Gardner-Buckshaw said.

You can contact Adrienne Savoldi at [email protected].