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Over 140 fifth graders attend Annual Girls Can event at Luna
For the third consecutive year, Luna Community College hosted the local Girls Can Career Exploration Event. Approximately 140 fifth grade girls from San Miguel, Mora, and Guadalupe, counties attended the one-day event, recently.
Girls Can is an initiative of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Las Vegas, N.M. branch. Professors, instructors and other women professionals from Luna, Highlands, and the community were the featured presenters. They conducted hands-on workshops and spoke with the students about their experiences and the opportunities available through education and other career pathways.
The girls participated in workshops and presentations in various fields ranging from science, technology and computer science to welding, health care, engineering, forestry, and cosmetology. The girls experienced a college campus, met, and talked with various women professionals. They had lunch after their workshops in the Luna cafeteria, and then boarded buses to return to their schools.
In 2023, approximately 125 fifth grade girls from San Miguel, Mora, Guadalupe, and Colfax counties attended the one-day event.
Dr. Carol Linder, Vice President of Finance and Administration at Luna, and Dr. Mary Shaw, professor emerita at Highlands University, and Ms. Carla Romero, professor emerita at Highlands University, were this year’s coordinators. They have all been involved with Girls Can! for many years. Many other AAUW members contribute to making this annual event a success.
“The young ladies attending this year’s event saw all the exciting and new programs Luna has to offer,” said Linder. “The hope is that many of them will consider going into those fields.”
Romero, also a veteran educator, said the local AAUW branch has been conducting Girls Can for nearly two decades in Las Vegas and San Miguel County. Romero said 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 guided.
Romero said she grew up in Wagon Mound and while she encountered good role models such as teachers and principals, there were many potential career fields to which she and other girls had little to no exposure.
“We want Girls Can participants to realize that girls can be anything they want to be, as long as they work at it,” Romero said. “They shouldn’t limit themselves or the careers they pursue.”