The Girl Scouts held STEM Day at the Theo Ratliff Center on Monday, and girls ages 5-13 were able to learn more about science, technology, engineering and math.

“The younger girls are working on activities dealing with science, technology, engineering and math, and the older girls are learning about engineering jobs and suiting clients’ needs while making a product,” said Cortnie Draper, Girl Scouts Pathway Program manager. “The younger girls are making lava lamps and lip gloss, and the older girls are designing pencil bags for a client.”

Joyce Weiss, community development manager serving Marengo and Sumter Counties, said the program is good to get girls interested in the STEM activities at a young age.

“We’re trying to do things that interest the girls,” Weiss said. “The younger we can interest them, the better. We want to encourage them not to shy away from these fields as they get older so they can have careers of their own.”

Weiss added that when girls get to the 4th or 5th grade, they are no longer interested in these kinds of activities, so it’s important to get them interested while they are young.