A Book and A Movement

Our Student Board of Directors Members were inspired by our #FINFAM Game Changers social media series we posted in August. They’re on the hunt for other STEM game-changers outside the #FINFAM community to interview and bring awareness to people who are changing the world. Our first game-changers are authors of a multicultural award-winning book. Sam Szanti, our Student Board of Directors President is excited to share more.

As we work with this year’s FIRST theme – ‘Game Changers’, I decided to reach out to Erin Twamley and Josh Sniedeman, authors of the children’s book Everyday Superheros: Women in STEM Careers. To me, they embody what it means to be a game-changer, and after reading an excerpt from their book I knew I wanted to interview them as part of this project. To see so many diverse women in STEM fields, especially in careers that one may not typically think of, was motivational, to say the least. The work they’re doing to inspire young girls is absolutely game-changing! Read on to learn more about the inspiration for the book, the work they’re doing, and what I learned from my interview.

A Game-Changing Interview

Erin Twamley and Josh Sneideman are #FINFAM Game Changers and authors of the children’s book Everyday Superheroes: Women in STEM Careers. Both were inspired by their own daughters and set out to “create the strong message we want them to hear — women are STEM Superheroes.” And it does just that – Everyday STEM Superheroes explores the careers of 26 different 21st-century women who have been leaving their mark on the STEM world.  The best part is – these women are not one of a kind.

Both Sniedeman and Twamley “intentionally looked for everyday women” in their research, showing that girls in STEM fields are everywhere. Their goal was to make sure educators had access to current resources representing women in STEM today, not just the trailblazers of the past. By including this in a children’s book, both Sniedeman and Twamley are hopeful to make an impact on the youth of today by “Planting seeds in the fertile soil of their young minds that they can and will achieve anything”. They are extremely proud to be a part of the sweeping movement that is “sharing the story of STEM superheroes” and working towards equity for all in STEM fields.

As part of this interview, Erin and Josh generously shared with #FINFAM a code to access the book via a discount (over 50% off!). See the provided text below for details on how to access this discount:

Everyday STEM Superheroes features women who have created, collaborated or designed awesome robots. From robots using AI to learning how to feel, your questions and curiosity will fly while reading this book.  Everyday Superheroes: Women in STEM Careers is a multicultural award-winning book available with a special FIRST Indiana Robotics discount. Sharing Everyday STEM Superheroes is a call to action — let’s build the next generation of STEM superheroes and robots. Get your copy for $8.50 (Retails for $17.95) using code below at www.itascabooks.com. Enter the discount code at checkout.

 

STEMHeroP850

Thank you, Erin & Josh, for participating in our series and bringing these stories to life!

#STEMSuperheroes #WomeninSTEM