{"id":14420,"date":"2025-10-23T13:39:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T17:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=14420"},"modified":"2025-10-23T13:39:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T17:39:20","slug":"celebrating-empowerment-at-beach-girls-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/celebrating-empowerment-at-beach-girls-rock\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating empowerment at Beach Girls Rock!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The Deep Sea Tactics Team from Landstown High Governor\u2019s STEM Academy brought a couple of their underwater ROVs to Beach Girls Rock!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Cindy Butler Focke<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Plaza Middle drum line members welcomed participants to Beach Girls Rock! Oct. 18 at their school.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Drum roll, please!<\/p>\n

Members of Plaza Middle School drum line welcomed approximately 300 VBCPS female students as they walked inside the school Oct. 18 for Beach Girls Rock!<\/p>\n

Fourth through eight graders attended the event, part of the female empowerment series hosted by the Office for Opportunity and Achievement, led by director Ty Harris and coordinator Meredith Hobson.<\/p>\n

A gender gap still exists when it comes to females in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) workforces, Harris told the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission is to do everything we can to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plaza Middle principal Dr. Andria Chambers helped set the tone for the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are bright, curious and powerful young women from throughout Virginia Beach,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is about realizing what you have and what it takes to shape your own future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
About 300 girls in grades four through eight participated in Beach Girls Rock! Volunteers from the Kellam High Young Women\u2019s Leadership Club handed out tote bags and also served as guides.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Members of the Kellam High Young Women\u2019s Leadership Club led groups from one workshop to another to explore career opportunities, participate in STEM activities, and focus on personal empowerment and mental health.<\/p>\n

Erin Rivera with Virginia Clinical Research presented \u201cAdvancing Medicine Through Research.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe test medicine before it gets into the pharmacy,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

And it could cost more than a million dollars and take up to 15 years to get FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval, she added.<\/p>\n

When it came time for a mock clinical trial involving how chocolate affects mood, attendees were happy to participate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Beach Girls Rock! attendees gladly participated in a mock clinical trial to determine which type of chocolate, milk or dark, is a better mood enhancer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The question was, \u201cWhich chocolate, dark or milk, enhances mood more?\u201d<\/p>\n

Each girl scored her mood on a scale from one to 10 and was randomly placed in groups A or B to unknowingly taste dark or milk chocolate.<\/p>\n

Post mood rankings were tabulated, with milk chocolate being the unofficial winning mood enhancer.<\/p>\n

Following a presentation by the Deep Sea Tactics Team from Landstown High Governor\u2019s STEM Academy, attendees headed outside to operate two underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).<\/p>\n

\u201cMarine biologists study ocean life and the environment with ROVs,\u201d explained team member Savannah Synder.<\/p>\n

The team is currently designing an underwater ROV to be entered in a spring regional competition.<\/p>\n

Sky Burdette, Kendra Mahan and Mia Mullins of the Kempsville High Entrepreneurial & Business Academy wowed attendees at their session \u201cDream Big, Build Bold\u201d<\/p>\n

Their eco-friendly storage bag, designed as part of an in-school competition, won $10,000 for manufacturing the product.<\/p>\n

The entrepreneurs led small groups in creating a product, brainstorming and making a pitch using a core value, such as \u201cexcellence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Heidi Logan and her daughter Ciara, who are new to VBCPS, said they gained valuable insight into available resources and opportunities. From left, Logan, Chief Communications and Community Engagement Officer Nicole Livas, Ciara, Contessa Magee with FACE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBe innovative and have fun,\u201d Sky told them.<\/p>\n

Parents attended a variety of workshops about family resources, supporting their child\u2019s social and emotional well-being, and the Sentara School Liaison Program.<\/p>\n

They also heard from students in programs and courses available for study at the Virginia Beach Technical and Career Education Center and Advanced Technology Center.<\/p>\n

Contessa Magee with Family and Community Engagement (FACE) hosted \u201cThe Power of Parents; Ways to Help Your Students Thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

She discussed \u201cways to help your child succeed,\u201d including creating a study routine, talking about school daily, helping them set goals and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cPositive parent involvement improves student outcomes,\u201d Magee emphasized.<\/p>\n

Jacquella Hunter said she attended the event to meet and collaborate with other parents, and for her daughter Ryan Gipson, a Bayside Middle sixth grader.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want her to utilize all the gifts and talents she has to be a creative and constructive member of society,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent Desmyn Owens’ session introduced girls to 4-H. They also planted basil and chives to take home.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Ty Harris with the Office for Opportunity and Achievement asked Beach Girls Rock! attendees about their day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Landscape architects Sarah Picking, left, and Jess Nelson challenged girls in their session to come up with design ideas for a teen park at Mount Trashmore. \u201cThat\u2019s collaboration right there,\u201d said Nelson as she watched a group discuss the benefits of including a dog park and soccer field area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
About 300 girls in grades four through eight participated in Beach Girls Rock! Volunteers from the Kellam High Young Women\u2019s Leadership Club handed out tote bags and also served as guides.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Cindy Butler Focke Drum roll, please! Members of Plaza Middle School drum line welcomed approximately 300 VBCPS female students as they walked inside the school Oct. 18 for Beach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":14430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-connections","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14420"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14439,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14420\/revisions\/14439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}