The Girl (Em)Powered Summit exceeded all imagination today! The panel of 15 highly successful, diverse, career women took Portage high school’s new Learning Center by storm, and shared their expertise and experience with 42 energetic young ladies from grades 4 through 12. The day began with a “meet and greet”, formal introductions, a Keynote address by the PTS Superintendent, and a video of the recent, historic, all-women spacewalk. Next, was speed networking, career sharing, and activity stations with the highly successful women guests. The young ladies got minds and hand on, engaging and connecting with the presenters. After several rotations, the large group enjoyed a break for some great food and conversation.

After lunch, the Panel discussion got real! Moderated by the She Can Tech women’s STEM group, heartfelt and tough questions by the young ladies were openly discussed by the panel. Their experiences, insights, and advice captivated the room leaving the kids inspired and empowered to pursue their passions. The lives of the presenters and students alike were positively impacted, and perhaps changed today. The event was co-hosted by Portage Robotics, the Porta-Botz! and She Can Tech, and made possible by a contingent generous student and parent volunteers. The Summit experience was the only one of its kind for northwest Indiana. It is the mission of Portage Robotics to engage the community at multiple levels, actively promote STEM, and to pursue and involve traditionally under-represented populations in the STEM ields.