By Allison Musante, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR The West Windsor and Plainsboro Girl Scout troop is working to lift barriers that block girls from science careers after the success of their first science and technology fair, which drew more than 300 participants.
Held at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North on March 11, the fair attracted 250 Girl Scouts, ages 8 to 18, and about 100 guest exhibitors and spectators. The event, funded by the Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey and Motorola, exposed the girls to options in science and math-based professions with fun activities and role models.
”This is definitely not a one-time thing,” said Cheryl Rowe-Rendleman, who organized the event with the scout leaders Andrea Mandel, Helen Rancan and Jan Cardinale. “We were expecting no more than 200 people, but the huge response showed us that continuing a program like this is much needed. Girls need a venue to explore science in a way that’s just fun no grades.”
The evening included a panel of 12 women in science, including students from Princeton University and Rutgers University, parents in science professions and women from Motorola and Baes Systems.
”The girls had a ton of questions,” Ms. Rowe-Rendleman said. “They were asking them how they grew up to be what they are. The women on the panel also realized that it’s not easy to be what Mommy is. Little girls need mentors to know what the next step is, whether it’s getting into a science course in high school or entering a science fair as an 8-year-old.”
The activities included building and racing miniature cars and playing with autonomous robots. Senior Girl Scout Krishna Trivedi organized a robotics scrimmage and invited the teams who also participated in the FIRST Lego League competition in January. Teams from middle schools in North Jersey and robotics teams from High School North, High School South and Hillsborough High School gave demonstrations of their robots.
Ms. Trivedi said she began the project because she wanted to “help more girls feel comfortable taking leadership roles in science.”
Many of the girls learned fundamentals of programming language, Ms. Rowe-Rendleman said.
”We did an activity where the girls would direct a friend to do a task, like walk to the end of the room and turn left. But they found that you have to be specific tell a robot how many paces before stopping and what turning left looks like, whether that’s a 90-degree angle or a 45-degree angle,” she said.
The Brownies did an activity in city engineering by designing and building a Lego village of the future, with more than a thousand pieces donated by the Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia.
”The girls used their imagination of what an ideal village would look like,” Ms. Rowe-Rendleman said. “They learned that they can’t just build the Legos as high as they want. They have to consider foundation and angles for getting the best structure and what things go into a village besides homes.”
The marshmallow shooter activity gave the girls food for thought, she added.
”The girls had to test the dimensions of the pipe and its configuration to hit a target,” she said. “By the end of the night, the corner of the room was littered with tiny marshmallows.”
Toward the conclusion of the fair, West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh remarked that “it was inspiring to see so many local talented women dedicate their time to insuring that the next generation of girls remains interested in science.”

