Wendy-Nia Griffin is the S.I.S.T.E.R.S program director at Family Support Center, a Maryland nonprofit that offers social and mental health services to families and schools in the metro area. FSC has received grants from The Women’s Foundation for the S.I.S.T.E.R.S. (Self, Image, Strength, Tenacity, Empathy, Responsibility, Success) after-school empowerment program. S.I.S.T.E.R.S. offers comprehensive outreach, education and mentoring for pre-adolescent and adolescent girls.
From one S.I.S.T.E.R.S. to another sister — this program is making a difference in the lives of tween girls by imbuing concrete coping and decision-making skills. The S.I.S.T.E.R.S. groups go straight to the crux of what impacts young girls like bullying and self image, healthy relationships, peer pressure and healthy bodies. The girls set the agenda and thus the group is socially and culturally relevant.
Part of being relevant means taking a look at areas that need improvement, so we recognized that the U.S. lags behind in leadership in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. That prompted us to start an initiative within S.I.S.T.E.R.S called S.I.S.T.E.R.S in Science. Our agenda remains ambitious and has included a trip to the National Science and Engineering Festival and visits from traditional scientists as well as kitchen scientists (who showed us that scientists can really cook!).
Our culminating event will take us to visit the National Institutes of Health, to expose the S.I.S.T.E.R.S. to world renowned scientists. There, they will get to use NIH’s top notch facilities in hands on experiments. Next year the S.I.S.T.E.R.S. program will send the winner of the S.I.S.T.E.R. in Science of the Year Award to the University of Maryland’s Women in Engineering Program. All we ask is that when she wins the Nobel Prize for Science and Engineering, she remembers to give a shout out to the S.I.S.T.E.R.S.!
Photo: A member of the S.I.S.T.E.R.S. program investigates the wonders of the human brain. Photo courtesy of Wendy-Nia Griffin.
