Sophie Mei Poole 2019 EngineerGirl Ambassador

My Story

I love two things in this world (aside from my parents, my border collie and my shetland sheepdog!) and those are water and math. Math is my happy place and the thing that brings me joy and motivation in life. I believe I can share that passion with other girls in a way that will be fun and exciting. I realized the need for my project after I visited the orphanage where I was born and spent the first year of my life before I was adopted (China). The biggest issue for the girls left behind my age was boredom. They didn't often get to go to school and prospects for them after they "aged out" of the system were very grim and limited. My first thought was to continue helping those girls in China but I soon realized that we have many of the same issues here at home with children in our foster care system. They too "age out" and are left to find their way often without a lot of direction. My personal story is one that girls in foster care or homelessness can relate to. I won't feel like an outsider coming in or giving charity. Our bond will come from a degree of shared experience and an eye towards hope.

My Project

My plan is to approach foster care agencies, foster parents, schools that may be open to participating and also programs for Homeless families. I volunteered at one such program in my community called "Door of Hope" that houses homeless families for one year an helps give them the tools they need to get back on their feet. My plan is to start there and see if I can build bridges to kids in foster care. I will begin meeting with small groups of three and teach basic coding skills and computer literacy. I'll introduce them to the ideas that I have learned in my AP Computer Science class this year and through various activities, like Girls Who Code, that I have participated in and learned from. I can recruit other STEM savvy girls from my school (Westridge School for Girls) as the program grows to also tutor. We will introduce girls to computer languages and the concepts behind coding. Maybe we'll take apart an old computer and figure out together how it works! I will then move on to some fun filled videos and apps that discuss various fields of engineering.