In the 1970s, Wendy Merchant’s parents purchased a home in the Cherry Creek School District, where they raised their family of four boys and three girls. Merchant was the oldest child, and attended Cunningham Elementary, Prairie Middle School, and Overland High School.
She didn’t realize it at the time, but one aspect of an art class at Overland changed the course of her life.
“Sam Short was my art teacher and I loved art,” Merchant recalled. “When we got to the part about drawing perspective - being in the hall and drawing the perspective down the hall - just seeing the lines and how it translated, it sparked my interest in architecture.”
That prompted her to take mechanical design and drafting classes her junior and senior year. Then, after graduating from Overland in 1988, she headed to the University of Wyoming where she earned a degree in architectural engineering.
“That doesn’t mean I’m an architect,” Merchant explained. “It means I can design mechanical building systems, like HVAC, plumbing, life-safety, central plants for chillers and boilers, cooling towers, things like that.”
Merchant spent the next 20 years building a successful career as a consulting mechanical engineer. She and her husband, Rodd, settled in Douglas County, and welcomed their son, Cole, in 2003. By the time he was 10, Cole had developed a love for activities such as robotics and coding. As Merchant investigated opportunities for him to participate in those things, she was shocked by what she found.
“I realized that there were still very few girls involved in those activities,” she said. “I’d spent two decades as a mechanical engineer, only to find that the number of women going into engineering had flatlined, and the number of women who were persevering in in computer science and tech careers had dropped since the 1990s.”
So, Merchant decided to do something. She started working with a teacher at a school near her home, mentoring high school girls who were interested in science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM.
The high school program was so successful, it was implemented at the middle school. In 2014, Merchant formally founded STEMblazers, which was incorporated as a non-profit organization two years later. The group’s purpose is to close the gender gap and strengthen the STEM workforce pipeline, and its mission is to inspire girls to visualize themselves in STEM.
“If I can be an engineer, anyone can be an engineer,” Merchant said. “It really is about confidence and mindset and having somebody encouraging you, and being able to talk to someone who is a woman, or if you’re a person of color, someone who looks like you, and to be able to visualize yourself in that field. Otherwise, it’s hard to think that’s a possibility.”
Today, STEMblazers works with girls at 27 metro area schools, including all 13 middle schools in the Cherry Creek School District.
“It’s really rewarding to be able to give back to the community where you grew up. That means a lot to me,” Merchant said.
The STEMblazers organization partners with a teacher at each school to create a club that meets twice a month, either in the fall or the spring. A STEMblazer volunteer, who is a female professional in a STEM field, works with the teacher to plan hands-on activities for each meeting.
“The girls love Sphero (a spherical, programmable robot) so we do that,” Merchant said. “We also do a computer autopsy, so they get to work in groups and take computers apart, which is really great.
“One of the girls said, ‘I never thought I’d be interested in computers or technology, and now I totally can see myself doing this, and I’m excited to learn more!’ That’s exactly what why we do what we do,” she continued.
Middle school STEMblazers also hear from guest speakers and do tours with industry partners. At the high school level, the organization connects students with job shadow opportunities, provides scholarship information to students who are college-bound, and information about alternative pathways into STEM careers, such as trade schools, internships, and apprenticeships, for those who may not want or be able to follow a traditional post-secondary path.<insertvideo><insertvideo>
STEMblazers’ long-term goal is to reach one million girls by the year 2050. Merchant says the world needs every one of them.
“Everything we use every day has technology attached to it. We need all those minds and all that talent to be able to be as innovative as possible and to be able to successfully provide products that work for everyone,” she said.
Merchant applauds the Cherry Creek School District for providing opportunities for all students to explore STEM from preschool through high school and beyond, through classes, clubs, events including STEAM-a-Palooza, Career and Technical Education, and especially, the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus. She says it’s important to reach students – especially girls – at a young age.
“Research shows that students decide whether they’re good at math and science and whether they want to persist in it before they leave elementary school,” she said. “When they get to middle school, it’s even more challenging.”
She encourages all students – girls and boys – and their parents, to explore STEM fields early and often.
“You don’t know what you don’t know, until you try something,” she said. “Allowing yourself the opportunity to explore is so important. You might find out you don’t like something you thought you did, and you like something you never thought you would. You’ll save time, money, and frustration doing that in high school, rather than in college, where your money and your time are so much more valuable.”
Get more information about STEMblazers here.
Posted 11/4/2024.
