From left: Celeste Joly, Jackie Trautman, Kendra Sands and Linda Mills. Photo courtesy of Kathryn Lebo
Jackie Trautman spends much of her internship making paper airplanes. She can build a miniature aircraft using household objects. And, although she knows she can’t change the world immediately, she’s working to inspire a love of science, technology, engineering and math in young girls through the Air and Space Museum’s Engaging Girls in STEM program.
“We want people to see that everyone designs things,” said Trautman, who just finished her freshman year at Penn State, where she studies mechanical engineering. “It’s not exclusive to people who are in lab coats.”
Trautman grew up in Reston and graduated from South Lakes High School. She works in the Design Hangar at the museum, teaching visitors that they can be successful in STEM fields, regardless of their gender. The program targets 8- to 16-year-olds because, according to Trautman, “that’s the age range where girls seem to fall out of the STEM field.”
Amy Stamm, the internship program coordinator at the museum, agrees with the importance of programs like Engaging Girls in STEM.
“We have this huge opportunity in these growing careers that have historically been held by men,” Stamm said. “Jackie is a great candidate for us because she’s studying the same topics that we hope to encourage other girls to study.”
In terms of encouraging girls to stay with STEM, Trautman emphasizes the use of volunteer training, a large part of which includes the use of gender-neutral pronouns when discussing scientific achievements. Constantly describing an astronaut or a scientist as “he” may not seem like a big deal, but according to Trautman, it can negatively impact a girl’s ability to see herself as a potential success.
A large part of the program, according to Trautman, is making sure girls “have confidence in themselves and to keep persevering even though some people … may express doubt.”
According to Stamm, one of the most important parts of the program is the chance for visitors to gain hands-on experience with STEM.
“It’s one thing to tell a child how the forces of flight work,” Stamm said. “It’s another thing to show them with their hands, and interact with them.”
Michael Hulslander, the manager of Onsite Learning, said Trautman’s work could have a lasting impact on girls who visit the center.
“Jackie has been wonderful to work with. She’s proven that she’s smart, dedicated, and enthusiastic about getting girls interested in STEM,” Hulslander said in an email. “Hopefully her work will inspire other girls to become engineers — just like her.”