For the second consecutive year, Luna Community College will be hosting the local Girls Can event. This year there are two separate sessions, Thursday, April 27, and Thursday, May 4 so that the college can include girls from most of the local schools. Both events are scheduled at Luna’s main campus in Las Vegas.
Girls Can is an initiative of the American Association of University Women, (AAUW) Las Vegas Branch. Women who have gone on to success in various fields, especially those that do not traditionally seen as women’s careers, will be the featured presenters. They will conduct hands-on workshops and speak to students about their experiences and the opportunities available through education and career pathways.
Last year, nearly 200 fifth-grade girls from school districts in San Miguel, Mora, Colfax, and Guadalupe counties participated in the Girls Can event at Luna. The fifth graders participated in 16 workshops or presentations in various fields. The girls experienced a college campus as well as met several successful women professionals. Other women guided them around campus between classes and talked with the girls about the opportunities available to them. They all had lunch at the school before
boarding their buses back to their respective schools.
Dr. Carol Linder, director of Luna’s Allied Health Sciences and Public Service Department, and Dr. Mary Shaw, Highlands emeritus professor, who have been involved with Girls Can for several years, are this year’s event coordinators. Many other AAUW members are also contributing to making this event a success.
“The young ladies attending this year’s events will see all the exciting and new programs Luna has to offer,” said Linder. “The hope is that many will consider going into some of these fields.”
Carla Romero, another veteran educator, said the local AAUW chapter has been conducting the Girls Can event for nearly two decades in Las Vegas and San Miguel County. She pointed out that AAUW focuses on reducing early gender bias and encourages female students to pursue higher education – including fields of study to which they have not traditionally been steered.
Romero said she grew up in Wagon Mound and while she encountered good role models such as teachers and principals, there were many more potential career fields to which she and others had little to no exposure.
“We want (Girls Can participants) to think girls can be anything they want to be, as long as they work at it,” Romero said. “They shouldn’t limit themselves. They shouldn’t limit the careers they pursue.”
Professors, instructors, and career women from Luna, Highlands, and the community are expected to be featured presenters. Workshops will include a wide variety of topics including how to apply an Ace bandage to an ankle, computer coding, identifying insects found in our local forests, treating the injuries of student athletics, the life of an artist, fire science, and much more.
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Pictured in this file photo is Luna nursing faculty member Susan Grohman giving a presentation in Luna’s simulation lab last year.
