Did you know that its National Engineers Week? February 18th thru 24th is a week dedicated to increasing public awareness and appreciation of engineers and their work. With two uncles that have careers as electrical engineers, my 6 year old daughter may just become one herself when she grows up! She has an increasing desire to know how things work and when they don’t, she wants to know what can be done to fix it.
Learning, Building, Creating with #outandaboutAva
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, women represent 50.6% of the US population yet make up only 11.7% of all engineers. Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day on February 22, 2018 (part of the larger observance of National Engineers Week) is all about changing that forever and American Girl is inspiring young girls with their 2018 Girl of the Year, Luciana Vega.
Luciana’s first book unlocks behind-the-scenes storytelling
Luciana shows what it can mean to be a girl of strong character today, where creative thinking, collaboration, and STEM literacy provide opportunities for meaningful growth and development. Technology continues to revolutionize what we do and what we know, and Luciana is a character that can bring visibility and valuable lessons to girls at a time in their lives when they’re learning about their infinite potential to change the world.
Saturn V, the rocket that was built to send people to the moon and used in the Apollo program in the 60’s and 70’s, is just one part of the journey to create Luciana’s character
This doll and her story inspires young girls to be curious, courageous, and determined. Bringing this story to life is an all-star advisory board that includes: Dr. Ellen Stofan, former NASA Chief Scientist, Dr. Deborah Barnhart, CEO and Executive Director of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Maureen O’Brien, Manager of Strategic alliances at NASA, and Dr. Megan McArthur Behnken, NASA Astronaut.
Luciana’s Mars Habitat unlocks space missions
I love how American Girl sparks a passion for science and problem-solving in our girls while developing toys, books, accessories that complement STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) curriculum. Take a look at this video sharing Luciana’s development and story theme:
More than just one day, Introduce a Girl to Engineering is a national movement that shows girls how creative and collaborative engineering is and how engineers are changing our world. Read more about the #GirlDay February 22 observance on American Girl’s Explore site. Here is a link to that article which is filled with information on how/where to celebrate and more :
http://www.americangirl.com/explore/articles/introduce-a-girl-to-engineering-day/
Thanks American Girl for inspiring girls to learn and be creative thru play. This helps in developing a child’s mind and lays the foundation for a great engineer one day! Be sure to visit americangirl.com/luciana to explore bonus content and discover all the interactive ways to play.
#OutandaboutAva meet Luciana Vega, American Girl of the Year 2018
What ways are you celebrating engineering week? Do you have a girl that creates and play with an American Girl doll?
SobeSavvy 
As we know representation of everything!!! I didn’t know about this week but happy to now know that it exists. I love the stem programs and know people that work at stem schools. This is great for our future engineers.
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I am happy you stopped by to read and comment and learned about Engineering Week!
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My daughter loves engineering so much. She’s really into coding and building things. I think we’re going to pick up the Luciana doll for her birthday.
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How sweet! Sounds like you have a future engineer on your hands.
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What a lovely concept, Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day…we’ve come a long way baby! And the American Girl continues to inspire by telling the story for every little girl! I love it!
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American Girl really does a great job in character building for the doll and the little girl (or boy) who plays with them!
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I love that American Girl is taking part in something like this! I was really into the historical American Girl dolls when I was younger, and I really got into the historical periods and wanted to know everything about them, and I’m sure if there had been a science/tech focused doll, I would’ve been into that too.
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This is the first character developed to focus entirely on science. They also have a tech focused -Asian doll named ‘Z’..did you see that ?
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This is really neat! My daughter JUST got out of dolls, but she is really into coding and technology.
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Curious Eva..when does the age of doll playing stop in your child’s case?
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Oh this is awesome! I love that American Girl is focusing on this! That’s awesome that your daughter is curious about how things work and how to fix things – essential skills for engineering! I didn’t get a lot of exposure to engineering as a kid – I got to explore and build things often and had an interest and curiosity in how things work – but engineering was always really abstract and I didn’t know what a real-world job would be like so I never really pursued it, but I like that there’s a push to make it more accessible 🙂
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So true! To see the growing opportunities for girls to learn and be exposed to STEM learning is awesome!
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I love that more efforts are being made to introduce girls to STEM careers. My daughter, who’s 16, is awesome in science and wants to become a physician. So proud!
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That is awesome! Thanks for sharing.
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I went to LA last month and walked past the American Girl store and saw this! Wow she is so cute I love it!
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Thanks for introducing me to Engineers Week. I wasn’t aware.
I love the idea of girls and STEM. Even as a boy mom, I want our son to see girls can do anything!
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My mother retired from NASA here in Cleveland so I have always loved learning about women in engineering! She would bring us to some of the programs and it would be very inspiring!
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I never knew about this. Thanks so much for sharing!
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Yes yes and yes! I volunteer with Black Girls Code periodically and love that the STEM initiative is matched with a doll! Girls can be pretty, intelligent, bosses, and all of the things. And, shoutout to Luciana for being an AG of color.
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Didn’t know last week was National Engineers Week, but good to know now! I’m loving how Luciana is representing STEM, she’s a great role model for young girls!
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I am a huge advocate of both girls and boys learning, participating, and growing in STEM programs. I did not know that American Girl had an initiative for girls in engineering that is very awesome! Thank you so much for sharing!
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This is amazing! I used to love American Girls when I was a kid. My favorite was Addy!
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I didn’t even know it was engineering week and I have two little budding engineers. I’m so happy they like your little one they love see other girls celebrated and they love to read. This book looks like it’s a great option for girls and boys too.
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My daughter loves American Girl dolls. I love that this new doll has an engineering focus. Our kids need this especially girls.
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