Sixty-five middle school girls from Kennedy Middle School filed into Discovery Place on Thursday morning, some a little uncertain about what the day held in store. By the time they left, they had designed and built working cranes, heard from women in STEM careers, and walked away with something harder to measure but just as real: confidence in what they might become.

That transformation is exactly what Girls Day Out is designed to create.

 

 

Now in its fourth year, Girls Day Out is a collaborative initiative between Discovery Place, Bank of America and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. The program brings middle school girls to Discovery Place for a full day of hands-on STEM learning, mentorship and career exploration — all centered on a simple but powerful premise: women are significantly underrepresented in STEM fields, and that needs to change.

"Boys are not the only ones that are good at math and science," said Amanda Bottoms, manager of youth development at Discovery Place. "We really want to help them understand that you can find your own niche, your own interest in STEM and develop your own career — without following the crowd."

 

A Day Built for Discovery

The day began with an IMAX screening focused on construction and engineering, setting the stage for the event's centerpiece: a STEM design challenge. Working in teams, students were tasked with building a functional crane from everyday household items — one capable of lifting a small cup filled with marbles. The challenge required collaboration, creative problem-solving and a willingness to try, fail and try again.

Students also participated in a career fair, speaking directly with Bank of America volunteers about their professional journeys and how they ended up in STEM careers. Those conversations — between working professionals and girls still figuring out who they want to be — are a core part of what makes the program work.

"It's great to see the students come in at the beginning of the day, maybe a little timid," said Randy Renick, community relations manager at Bank of America. "And then through the course of the day, see them develop into teams, work with students they don't normally work with — and then leave at the end having accomplished the challenge, with that increased confidence, and hopefully with an interest in something they didn't think was possible for them."

 

 

A Partnership With Roots

For Discovery Place, Girls Day Out reflects a larger vision of what community investment in education can look like when institutions work together. The program is one part of a broader partnership between Discovery Place and Bank of America that includes paid internships for CMS juniors and seniors, apprenticeships for student volunteers, and QC Code Quest — a coed coding competition held twice a year for middle and high school students.

"Bank of America has been so influential and impactful to the students in our community," Bottoms said. "When you have two big entities coming together to bring educational opportunities, it makes a real difference."

Renick said the initiative aligns directly with Bank of America's enterprise priorities around education, workforce development and investing in youth — and that the bank's volunteer culture is central to making it happen.

"We have volunteers who come back time and again for this particular event. That's how much they get out of it, and how clearly they see the impact they're having," Renick said.

 

 

What Comes Next

The Girls Day Out program hosts 10 events per year, serving primarily seventh through 10th graders across various CMS schools. Planning for next year's events begins in October, and spots are limited. Discovery Place also hopes to expand the program beyond Mecklenburg County in the coming years, reaching students in neighboring districts.

CMS schools interested in participating are encouraged to reach out early. Contact Discovery Place's youth development team at youthdevelopment@discoveryplace.org.

The goal, ultimately, is the same whether the program is serving 65 girls or 6,500: make sure that when it comes time for young women to decide what kind of future they want to build, they already know they can.