ERLANGER, Ky. — Troops with Girl Scouts of Kentucky’s Wilderness Road took part in a valve car race and STEM festival event this weekend.

What You Need To Know

  • The Girl Scouts of Kentucky's Wilderness Road gathered for the first ever Girl Scout 500 over the weekend

  • Girls were able to put together and decorate a valve car, made from the valve cover of a real car engine

  • The event was a chance to introduce girls to STEM and give them some hands-on experience with science, technology, engineering, and math

  • It was held at the Girl Scouts of Kentucky's Wilderness Road headquarters

It was the first-of-its-kind Girl Scout 500 for the group.

Abigail Fields, member of Troop 2028, was one of the participants in the inaugural events. She said she and other girls in her troop designed a valve car based around the idea of “A farm of friendship.”

“We all like horses. She even has horses. And we like friendship,” Fields said of their chosen theme.

A valve car is made from the valve cover of a real car engine. Troops could decorate their cars however they wanted.

Evelyn Clark, with the Junior Smarties, said their car design was a reflection of their intelligence. “It’s a pencil because we’re smart,” Clark explained.

But the contest involved much more than painting and decorating.

“We had to get not much heavy things to put on it and make sure it’s the right height,” Fields said.

These girls were responsible for putting their cars together from start to finish.

The event, held at the Girl Scouts headquarters in Erlanger, was sponsored by ATech Training and the Covington Rotary Club to give the girls an opportunity for some hands-on learning.

The goal is to pique the curiosity of the girls and eliminate any idea that girls can’t have an interest in math or science.

“Fourth grade is kind of an off-ramp for girls,” explained Susan Douglas, ceo with Girl Scouts of Kentucky’s Wilderness Road. “They’ll stop raising their hands in math class or in science class and we hate to see that happen.”

The girls could also meet with some of the partners of the event — organizations like Duke Energy and Perfetti Van Melle. They got more educational opportunities with things like building binary bracelets, snap circuit kids and lego robotics.

It gave girls a little taste of the opportunities that may lie ahead if they go into a STEM-related field.

“So that they better understand what engineering is, what are all the things they can do in the medical field, and they can see themselves as future astronauts and physicists and mathematicians,” Douglas said.

“It’s fun because we get to learn teamwork and work together,” declared Fields.

Girl Scouts of Kentucky’s Wilderness Road say they’d love to see the event continue on and grow over time.

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