The event will be held at the Pemiscot County Career and Technology Center Tuesday, March 21 from 8:40 a.m. until 2:20 p.m.  Ten schools from three southeast Missouri counties totaling 156 seventh grade girls are registered for the event.

“These events are important because they expose girls to many careers they might not have considered previously,” said Laura McVay, Missouri Career Pathways Consultant at the RPDC. “Students many times do not have the opportunity to see women in nontraditional fields.  As our world becomes a global marketplace for employees, it is important to expose students to a variety of jobs that exist both locally and around the world.” 

The keynote speaker for the day will be retired NASA Astronaut Dr. Linda Godwin, originally from Jackson, Missouri.  Godwin will be joining the event live-streamed via Zoom.  Godwin received a Bachelor of Science from Southeast before getting a master’s and doctorate in physics from the University of Missouri.  Godwin worked for NASA, supporting development of integration of science missions for the early Space Shuttle Program. She served as a flight controller and payloads officer in the ground Mission Control Center for several flights before being selected to be an astronaut in 1985.  Godwin completed four shuttle missions with over 900 hours (38 days) in space. 

The seventh graders will attend breakout sessions which will include speakers discussing careers in the areas of aviation, banking, steel manufacturing, architecture and construction, technology, law enforcement and education.   

“We currently have many STEAM jobs that go unfilled and those numbers grow every day. These events hold particular importance for our Bootheels students,” said McVay. “Exposing students early to possible career areas helps students plan for their future. The biggest thing we want students to take away from the event is that they have so many career options and opportunities close to home.  A focus on areas of STEAM will only increase their employability.”