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October 23, 2002Girls need to explore job options, Zonta says- Event encourages girls to pursue career in non-traditional fieldsBy VANESSA McCRAYRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - The message came through loud and clear Tuesday: Try something new, work hard, succeed. That refrain, echoed by members of the Zonta Club and women leaders in the community to 325 eighth-grade girls, was meant to encourage and inspire them to explore classes and careers they might have overlooked, namely those in math, science and technology. At the 12th Annual Zonta Project 100 Recognition and Encouragement Day at Northwestern Michigan College, the teenage girls were introduced to women whose professions require training in one of those three fields. "The one thing I want to impart to you ladies is that you need to know who you are," Heidi Lang, a soil erosion officer and guest speaker, said. "Don't let anything limit you. If this is something that you want to do, go for it. Don't say, 'I'm just a girl.'¡" And it wasn't just Lang saying-so. She was joined by a chorus of women in male-dominated professions - firefighters, engineers, financial advisors, physicians, meteorologists, police officers and architects - all of whom came to the one-day event to encourage girls to pursue jobs in non-traditional fields. Zonta co-chair Beth Knol said the organization's 110 members strive to get young women interested in these professions while still in high school. "The whole key to Zonta is the promotion of women and families, and technology and science is the key. We want to get them interested early so they have lots of choices," she said. The event has grown tremendously since more than a decade ago, when 100 girls joined Zonta members at a hotel for the first conference. Pat Lewallen, Traverse City Area Public Schools Special Programs Principal and a Zonta member, said it is a "phenomenal experience" for the girls, who came Tuesday from both Traverse City junior high schools, Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools and Boyne City Public Schools. Linda Deneen, Traverse City Central High School counselor, credits Zonta's efforts as one of the reasons for the increase in female students in high school math and science classes. "It has worked not only with enrollment but with our test scores on the ACT and SAT," she said. "It used to be that girls did much less well than the boys but now they are at parity." Even though Boyne City eighth-grader Mallory Slate is sold "and nobody's going to change my mind," on being a language arts teacher, she said it was inspiring to hear what women in this area have accomplished. Classmate Holly Stanek agreed. "I don't necessarily want to take a science class, but I'd like to learn more about it," Stanek said. And being willing to learn is half the battle. "Take math and science in high school. It's fun. It's interesting. It's unrealistic to pick out a career in the eighth grade, but then they see that the common thread for all these careers is math and science," Knol said. |
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