by James Talmage, Scout Programs

After more than a year of hard work, Girl Scouts Heidi Tamm, Zoe Kass, and others completed the entire Scouts@HMNS Careers in Science instructional series, earning each scout a total of seven badges.

Careers in Science is the Scouts@HMNS series of classes for Girl Scouts that aims to introduce girls to different scientific fields, lets them meet women working in those fields, and shows them what it’s like to work at the museum. There are seven different classes: Archeology, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Fossil Dig, Geology, and Paleontology. As the Fossil Dig class finished up March 7, those four girls added their seventh and final Careers in Science patch to their vests.

Heidi Tamm and Zoe Kass have been taking the classes together since the summer of 2013.

“They were really into earning all the patches and completing the whole series of classes.” said Julia Tamm, Heidi’s mother.

Heidi, whose favorite class was Archeology, said, “I liked science before the classes, but now I understand about the careers and what people actually do.”

Zoe kept taking the classes because of the fun activities and being able to see the museum in more detail. Her favorite class was Paleontology, which focuses on the Museum’s Morian Hall of Paleontology.

They encouraged other girls to try out the classes, even if they aren’t interested in science.  “You may decide you like it, or you’ll just learn something new.”

The Girl Scouts organization is moving more toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers, and that it’s not a boy thing to go into science. Anyone can do it, especially Girl Scouts.

For more information on the Careers in Science series, visit https://www.hmns.org/girlscouts/ and start collecting your patches today!