HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — This weekend, more than 1,000 Girl Scouts from across the region are expected to be in Lakeland for their 11th annual STEMapalooza.
For one 8-year-old named Elizabeth, it's an opportunity to be honored by a female astronaut.
Elizabeth felt like she was being launched into orbit when she learned she would receive one of only 90 Girl Scout badges sent into space aboard Artemis 1.
As a representative of the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida, Elizabeth said she was "like 100 stars excited."
She was chosen to receive the badge thanks to her winning essay.
"The question was what would I bring to space, and I answered a helmet and pizza," said Elizabeth.
Elizabeth will receive the prestigious badge from rocket scientist Ginger Barnes during Saturday's STEMapalooza at Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland.
"This is truly important for us, especially with girl scouts; half of the college-educated workforce is women, but only 29% are in the careers of science and engineering," said Dr. Sara Arias-Steele with Girl Scouts of West Central Florida.
STEMapalooza will provide a variety of hands-on activities from various careers encouraging girls to literally reach for the stars.
"We're talking flight simulators. We're talking virtual reality. We're talking coding a robot. It's everything under the sun, including a lot of women leaders in STEM who are going to come in and talk about what it's like to enter those careers," said Arias-Steele.
As for Elizabeth, she already knows what she wants to do when she grows up: become the first official astronaut chef.
STEMapalooza is Saturday, April 15, from 10 p.m. to 2 p.m. Girl Scouts and non-girl scouts, kindergarten through 12 grade, are welcome to attend, as well as their families. Admission is $5.
