■ Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics event for girls slated for June 14

Two Benicia women are teaming up again this month to encourage girls to get interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, or as it’s often abbreviated, STEM.

This month, Girls in STEM Day will take place at the Vallejo Yacht Club — which makes sense, since one of the planned activities involves water.

Fary Koh, who operates the LEGO learning center BrickSpace Benicia, and Nancy Kidder, a member of the Benicia-Vallejo American Association of University Women, united last year to guide 40 girls in grades two through six to take on three challenges in robotics and computer programming.

Kidder, now a volunteer, had a STEM industry career as a security engineer with the Department of Defense before leaving that line of work to start a family.

The youngsters, meeting at BrickSpace’s former site in the Benicia Arsenal, built robot birds, then hooked the little robots up to a laptop computer so they could be programmed to move, spin and make noises.

They built different types of bridges, then challenged their constructs to handle at least a pound of weight. Failure sent some of the girls back to the drawing board — because as Koh said, “That’s what engineers do.”

The girls also designed and built a wind turbine, then learned about other renewable energy sources.

In April, Kidder and Koh collaborated on another STEM workshop at BrickSpace. In some of the activities, the girls learned about computer circuitry and how it can be used in art, and again explored robotics.

Among the instructors was Connie Gamoras, a biochemist who has worked at Genentech for nearly 20 years, starting in a testing lab and working her way up to global compliance.

For the April STEM Day, Gamoras taught the girls about extracting DNA from strawberries.

“All the girls loved it,” Kidder said, so they’ve asked Gamoras to return to give even more girls a chance to pull DNA samples from strawberries.

Luciana Messina, a real-time embedded systems engineer, specializes in spacecraft flight software. She will guide the students in a water conservation workshop in which the girls will be challenged to make miniature wetlands and build a simple water tower.

They’ll also learn how to take drinking water samples.

Koh’s Brickspace also will give the girls a chance to use the little plastic LEGO bricks in robotics exercises.

Both Koh and Kidder expect to have a fourth Girls in STEM Day this fall.

Just as important as the activities are the contacts the girls will make, Kidder said.

“We will have a roundtable discussion during snack time, and the girls will have a chance to ask questions and learn about what it’s like to work in various STEM careers,” she said.

“The girls will have an opportunity to talk with women who currently work in the STEM field.

“I hear them get excited about science,” Kidder said. “Sometimes in school, you sit and listen to lectures. Here it’s fun stuff, super-exciting science.

“It’s a lot of fun.”

She said she often hears girls say, “I want to do this” when a project or career is described.

“We add women with careers in STEM,” she said, such as nurses, geneticists and those who work with computers. “They hear all the aspects.” The girls start asking about the women’s workplace and activities, and “they’re really thinking about it. I think its really motivating.”

Girls in STEM Day will take place from 1-4 p.m. June 14 at Vallejo Yacht Club, 485 Mare Island Way, Vallejo.

Cost is $10 to participate, and those interested may call Koh at 707-319-5489.