Episode 296: Partricia Cortez

Girl Powered: Redefining the Face of STEM

 [00:00:30] Fonz: Hello everybody. And welcome to another great episode of my ed tech life. Thank you so much for joining us on this wonderful day and wherever it is that you're joining us from around the world.

Thank you so much for all the likes, the shares, the follows. Thank you so much for engaging with our content, sharing our posts. And thank you so much to all our new YouTube subscribers. We really appreciate you going above and beyond It really means a lot to the podcast and.

Being able to get this content in front of more people. So I'm very thankful for that. We really appreciate it because you know that we do what we do for you so we can bring you some amazing conversations and amazing guests weekend and week out. And I am excited about today's guest because. I think it was last week we had her husband on the show, Omar Cortez.

And today we have Patricia Cortez, who is joining us. we're going to be talking specifically about Lady Bots. if you're not familiar with Lady Bots yet after today, you will be familiar. I hope this will inspire many robotics coaches out there, or people thinking about becoming a robotics coach to.

Start a program and continue to grow. So, Patricia, how are you doing this morning?

[00:01:46] Patricia: I'm doing well. How about yourself?

[00:01:47] Fonz: I am doing great. I am highly caffeinated and I'm definitely very excited to talk about STEM robotics and all the wonderful work you are doing. we first met about a year ago and we had, we had you, we had Omar and we had Dan Manley on the show also.

And so that was. Almost a year ago, actually, I believe. So it's wonderful to have you back now as a solo guest to learn more not just about Lady Bots, but also to amplify your story. As we know, you know, the, the school year has started. We know that there are already many robotics coaches that are already kind of established, but with every year, sometimes new personnel come in and it's like, Hey, guess what?

Surprise. You're the new robotics coach, or there may be some educators that have slowly been trying to dip their toes in that world, but feel a little intimidated. I hope that after today, when you share your story, your passion and how you've helped your program grow. They will be inspired as well.

we're definitely excited about that. So Patricia, before we dive in for all our audience members that may not be familiar with you yet, can you give us a brief introduction and what your context is in the education space?

[00:03:07] Patricia: For sure. So I'm currently a middle school teacher, well, and elementary. I teach sixth grade world cultures, seventh grade Texas history, and fourth grade robotics.

That is brand new to our campus this year and I'll talk more about that later. I'm also a proud coach of the Ladybots, an all girls robotics team that actually got started because they wanted To increase representation of girls in robotics.

[00:03:34] Fonz: That is wonderful. And I'm really excited.

And this is all here in the Dallas area. Is that correct? Yes, sir. Oh, that is perfect. I love it. Local. Well, about eight hours away from me, but still it's in Texas and that's wonderful. And I'm really excited that we have. Wonderful educators, just like yourself here that are passionate about representation.

And obviously influencing, young women to dive into STEM and robotics. So that's wonderful. tell us a little bit about, you know, I know you gave us a little brief introduction, but let's go way back to when you first maybe started teaching and how long before you really dipped your toes or maybe I should say really dove in.

To the world of robotics. Tell us that story, how that happened.

[00:04:17] Patricia: So I was an elementary school teacher. there was a new initiative in Dallas ISD and it was robotics. one of my partner teachers across the hallway was like, Hey, do you want to try this new thing, this new initiative that the, that Dallas ISD is doing?

And it's robotics. I was like, all right, I'll try it. I have no engineering background. Went to school for education. Always wanted to be a teacher my entire life. Never thought about robotics at all, but I was like, okay, let's give it a try. So we did, we did really well. We made it to the world championship.

He handled the engineering and the helping the kids with the robots, with the programming aspect. And then I helped the kids with interviews with documenting their engineering design process with their STEM research project. I kind of was hands off when it came to engineering, because I felt like, I have no idea, so I cannot help these kids.

worked out, but then it came to one year, where, where it was maybe Four years ago now, four or five years ago now, I had two little girls and they really wanted to drive the robots, but they were too afraid to tell the boys, Hey, we want to drop be drivers too. We want to be programmers too. And so I was like, well, you have to push yourself into it.

If you want it, you got to go get it. They're like, no, we don't want to do that. We want to make our own team. I was like, okay, well, I'm not very experienced. Let's think about it. And no, they stuck to their guns. They really wanted to start their own team. And they wanted to be on all girls team so that all girls could be in all aspects of robotics, not just in the engineering design notebook, not just researching projects.

They wanted to be building, they wanted to be programming, they wanted to be driving. So I'm like, okay, you know what, let's do it. you brought up that initiative. So Let's go full force. I don't know what I'm doing, but we're going to learn together. And that's what we did. We learned together.

They made it to the world championship. They made it to the finals. They won the STEM research project. They won the excellence award at the state championship. They had so many successes and not just in one area, they won the trophies for driving, they won the trophies for programming, for STEM research, for their design cycle.

So it was amazing that this group of five girls, myself included, had no idea what we were doing, but we just did it. they were very successful and continue to be successful. They won the Lady Bots Award one year at the World Championship for the initiatives that they're taking to try to encourage more girls to be a part of STEM.

Now, We are targeting 4th through 8th grade, all robotics, so that girls can have representation and exposure in robotics and STEM.

[00:07:12] Fonz: That is such a wonderful story, it's amazing what it took to start this, which is really just that drive. To want to participate.

Obviously like you said, they were just a little shy in saying like, Hey, we want to drive. So they say, Hey, you know what, instead of asking, why not create our own team, that is something amazing A lot of teachers don't experience that, but just the fact that you have those, students that are very driven and looking for somebody to support.

And like you mentioned too, with the very little experience you had. You all went for it. it's all about taking that risk. And now you saw this huge reward. So that is something that is amazing. And so, you know, going along with that, I want to ask you because of your experience with coaching and doing robotics, How is it that now, because of that experience, what is the work that you're doing to encourage girls or young women to pursue robotics or pursue a career in STEM?

[00:08:14] Patricia: a couple of years ago, maybe two years ago, we started, district wide, we did a Lady Bots event. And I helped with, the logistics of the event, with running the event, getting volunteers, getting stations ready. And it was an amazing turnout. We had a lot of girls go back to their campuses because it was a district wide event and want to do robotics.

So then last year we weren't able to do it due to budget reasons and timing. It was something we wanted to do yearly. But unfortunately, last year it didn't work. So this year, my Lady Bots are the ones that actually brought it up to me. They're like, we need to have our Girl Powered event.

We enjoyed it so much that we want other girls to experience it. now they're hosting a Girl Powered event, a Girls in Gears, workshop, on October 26th, and they are handling the stations. They are going to be the presenters teaching our future, hopefully future generation of roboticists.

different activities and different skills in order to be successful in STEM and hopefully they'll that'll bring. a little bit more light to these girls to want to be in STEM and for their coaches to take that leap of faith with some of these girls and expose them to it. And it doesn't matter that you don't know anything when you first start, you can always learn together.

That's what happened with me. And I'm still learning to this day from these girls. They go through their robotics classes. And then when I meet with them after school, they're teaching me something new every day. We don't have to be knowledgeable. We just have to be there and build these relationships with these girls and encourage them

we're doing this, Girl Powered event in honor of the international day of the girl. that's why we're hosting it in October. We're hoping to have several rotations where these girls are going to build a tower, work with binary bracelets, create a robot, and program that robot to go through an obstacle course.

So very hands on, , I'm most proud that my girls are going to be the ones leading these sessions. they're going to be my future leaders and hopefully they'll be able to inspire these girls that are coming.

[00:10:24] Fonz: Oh, that is wonderful. what grade are they in?

[00:10:26] Patricia: They're in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade.

[00:10:28] Fonz: Oh, that is wonderful.

So that's great. Now, okay, so we're talking about this event, Girl Powered, tell us exactly what Girl Powered is, because I know that they do have a website that people can go, and it's girl-powered.org. But tell us about that initiative, because I know we're here to help build up some traction for this event coming up in October, like you mentioned, tell us the overall mission and vision of Girl Powered.

[00:10:57] Patricia: So Girl Powered is an initiative by the REC Foundation and VEX Robotics, and their goal was for equal representation. of girls in robotics programs. So are they trying to exclude boys? No, they're definitely not trying to exclude the boys. I get asked that a lot. They're pushing for equal representation because our world's going to need diverse thinkers and diverse problem solvers.

And having equal representation of both genders is really going to help with that . So Girl Powered does not just All these girls doing these things, it's about finding people who you don't normally see in robotics, getting them to try it, and showing them they belong in STEM. It's, about encouraging a more diverse culture in robotics.

[00:11:42] Fonz: Oh, that was powerful.

[00:11:44] Patricia: Yes, for sure. as I went to my first Girl Powered workshop as a coach a couple of years ago, I was inspired the moment I left it. ever since then, I try to follow along with the Girl Powered initiative. I embrace it wholeheartedly. And try to instill that in our students as well, because only 35 percent of women in the work field are in STEM.

even worse, only 8 percent of them are Latinas. that hit really close to home with me and my girls because my girls are Latinas. And to realize that only 8 percent are in the STEM workforce, that was really eye opener for both myself and for them.

[00:12:24] Fonz: Yeah, no, and those are some really eye opening stats, and that's something that is, you know, definitely needs, we need to improve that, and we need to definitely open up doors, and promote that more, oftentimes you see robotics, or you hear robotics, and it's usually synonymous with, a boys club.

I'll be honest with you in, in doing STEM camps when I first started in this particular role for the first couple of years, we were doing robotic, Oh, actually just STEM camps. We'd had a little robotics component the time we were doing, you know, with, dealing with FIRST, and then we would do scratch coding and so on.

I remember my very first year, when we opened up, For to parents, to get their Children enrolled. the numbers were very high as far as male to female ratio. And but as the years progressed, what what I loved about it is that that second year.

We almost had an equal amount of boys to girls. And then the third year we actually had more girls than boys that was something that was wonderful and that I just. Was really elated by because I, you know, to me, it's like, Hey, look at these opportunities that are there.

they were phenomenal. talk about diverse thinkers. just to see both boys and girls collaborate together, not like, Hey, you have your side and here's my side but working together, building communication skills, because. You know, we did do tasks where we did have, you know, the girls, you know, and then, you know, we want to make it a little bit competitive, you know, sometimes, but then we would mix in some wonderful activities where they would both work together and it was just amazing.

And the relationships that were built. one of the things I did get to see from that is as the students went on, To junior high, they continued with robotics this last year I had my last group of STEM camp, attendees that graduated and it was amazing to see them, you know, they did a demo event for our elementaries, junior highs, and so on again, to kind of build up momentum, to have students join robotics.

And it was just so wonderful to see the number of young ladies that stuck through it and they were just doing phenomenal. And just to hear what their future goals were to go into, you know, engineering, to go into, you know, technology field, we have some that, you know, we're doing cybersecurity, but that all came because of that exposure and that experience with robotics.

And I think it's just something that is wonderful that you get to see. More opportunities are out there as opposed to maybe not being involved in a club, but now it's exciting. So I'm thankful, for educators like yourself that are, following through with these initiatives and trying to grow.

Girls in STEM, but also Latinas in STEM, which is very near and dear to me being in this demographic area, that's something powerful we should strive to push for I'm really excited about that let's talk a little bit and take it back a bit because I want to go back to What you were saying when you first started this I want to help Some of even my educators that are here within our district that are new to robotics, you know, and this is this is going to go out to everybody

But like you mentioned, going in, you did not have an engineering background, you did not have a robotics background. What is your best advice through the experience that you've had that you can give some of our currents, you know, that are still in the novice stage, robotics coaches, or maybe aspiring robotics coaches to help them overcome that fear of, you know, Not knowing what robotics is or that engineering process.

[00:16:09] Patricia: So first and foremost to let your kids try and fail. I grew up very much a perfectionist and I always feared failure. but robotics really taught me to not fear failure, but to embrace it. Second, YouTube, youTube has so many amazing resources. There's so many teams that are trying to help the robotics community as well, so they share ideas.

So getting those ideas and then synthesizing them with your team to try to come up with your own ideas. VEX Robotics has a plethora of STEM lessons where they guide you step by step on how to go through different cycles with your students. And talk to other coaches. Like we love sharing. We love helping with whatever we can build a little community of robotics coaches and reach out when you need help.

[00:17:04] Fonz: Yeah, that's definitely some great tips there. And I think it just goes back to, that feeling for educators, when we go into the classroom it's almost like. We need to know everything, but it's okay to not know everything, that's one of the things that I always tell, you know, any new teacher that I work with, I said, Hey, it's okay to not know everything, but, you know, and like you said, even sometimes a lesson may not go well, but you learn from that improvise, adapt, and then come back and try it again.

I remember the countless times that even I was going through a lesson even through STEM camps where I was trying To do a lesson and it just didn't quite go as well as I thought it would. And then we just say, okay, guys, it didn't go as well as planned, but let's improvise. Let's try this instead.

and that's the fun part about it too, learning while trying, the thing that you hit on the most, and I think it's most valuable is. Learning from your students, it's okay that they can teach you, a couple of things, because they're heavily vested in it, and that is contagious, as you're there, supporting them and facilitating, you're going to be learning and taking so much knowledge that you can share with the years around, the following year, so tell me how that works.

That experience has been for you because I want our coaches to hear how you yourself have learned from your students and how that has contributed to your success.

[00:18:24] Patricia: So this past summer, we hosted our first robotics camp on campus. And programming and I don't really get along, but we had some programming lessons to get to, and I just skunned it and we did it,

The kids were pretty successful. The part that I love seeing most was they kept grappling with it. They kept testing those numbers, changing those blocks to figure it out themselves. I'd walk around and try to guide them. sometimes I just didn't know How to help them or get them to that next step.

And so we'd just play with the numbers, play with the blocks, and they all ended up being successful at completing their challenge. But what really got to me was, I don't know, programming's, not my friend, but I gave them a survey the last day of the summer camp. And I asked them, what area did you learn the most, whether it was engineering or programming or the notebook, and most of them said programming.

I was like, oh my goodness. how is it that you learn so much programming when I feel like I'm awful at it. It's just going out there, putting yourself in it and trying your best. it's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to learn from our kids. I learned a lot about programming while I was teaching that with them.

I learned about just through my robotics girls is just getting out there. I I'm an introverted person. I don't like speaking in public very often. I rarely advocate for myself unless it's something that's a big deal to me. They taught me to just. Put myself out there. I saw them putting themselves out there to share what they were trying to do to ask for help.

And so it just made me go back and do it. So you're always going to learn from your kids and it sticks with you even more. it's more rewarding for them because you build that relationship with them. And they realized my teacher is not perfect. It's okay. We can learn together sometimes.

[00:20:22] Fonz: Oh, that is so powerful.

And you're absolutely right. A lot of that, the same sentiments that you're sharing is the exact same thing that I went through in doing the STEM camps and, you know, being involved with the robotics community, it's always an ongoing learning process. that's wonderful that many times, and, and not just with robotics, but this, this ties into even just general education, because oftentimes, you know, the robotics coaches wore multiple hats.

teaching multiple grade levels, multiple, preps, and of course, robotics, you know, going in there. Sometimes we feel like, Oh man, like I really blew that lesson. And all of a sudden the kids are like, man, like I had never learned anything like that before.

And, you know, it surprises you because. Sometimes we are a little hard on ourselves. I love the fact that you mentioned for a lot of educators, the classroom life can be very stressful. many times there's a lot of things that pop up, a lot of things that happen that are unexpected.

I always said, as long as the door's closed. I'm okay. I'm in control and we're going to do our lessons and be great at it. But sometimes you open up those doors and that's when kind of like the extra administrative stuff comes in that kind of stresses you out.

But I love what I'm hearing from you too, is that robotics and being able to coach robotics, not only the fact that you get to work with your students and, build up these wonderful young ladies in the robotics community, your Lady Bots, and, gaining all these accolades.

Even just for you as a teacher, this is that creative outlet, this is that de stressor, this is where you get to experience things almost like on the student side of it, because like you mentioned, you're still learning right along with them.

And I think that for myself, I found that very refreshing too, it kind of centered me to be like, Hey, okay, it's okay not to know everything. And it's okay that even this kind of model or what I'm feeling. It's okay for me to also be the same way in the classroom, and that's powerful too

I know maybe it wasn't too much about robotics there, but like you mentioned, even though the students are learning these soft skills, even as educators, like you mentioned, You're very introverted, but through robotics, now you're like, wow, you're an extrovert and you're out there and you're advocating and things of that sort.

I think that's something I really wish, you know, that that's those intangibles or maybe those things that, that, Teachers or coaches don't think about that. You know, this is helping us also as well build those skills right along with our students.

[00:22:56] Patricia: For sure.

[00:22:57] Fonz: Alright, I want to know a little bit more because I know, the importance of promoting, girls in STEM especially in the Latina community.

I want to ask you, as far as your experience and maybe through your research and what you've seen in the last couple of years, what have been some of the biggest challenges that girls face when entering, fields like robotics how have, you or maybe how has Girl Powered that you see help them overcome these challenges?

[00:23:27] Patricia: So first it was the representation. we began four or five years ago with the all girls team, and they wouldn't see very many girls out there and they definitely wouldn't see very many Latina girls,

the REC foundation has really helped with the Lady Bots initiative. And we have seen more girl faces. more all girls teams and more all girls teams that are being very successful we had a lot of all girls teams, but it was very basic. now we see them advancing to the next level.

If the Lady Bots are now moving on from backside queue to VRC, which is the metal robot. So they're going from the plastic robots to the metal robots. we see girls trying to move up to the next level though. What's next for them? So that's the major challenge that I see with them is the representation.

They're not willing to try new things if they don't see a familiar face. So the Girl Powered Initiative is helping with them seeing that familiar face that encourages them to go and try it, try something new.

[00:24:31] Fonz: I think right there, that is something that is so powerful, and I'm glad that you mentioned that, because the representation aspect of it can make a huge difference, especially, in our demographic area.

in your school, You know, there's definitely a big Latina community, Latino community here. Also where I'm at in, the Southern tip of Texas, it's really the same way, but oftentimes what happens is, our books, maybe some of our lessons, some of our curriculum.

sometimes it's because, when you're in science class, a lot of the scientists that you see, it's like, okay, well, I don't see anybody that looks like me. So it's like, why would I even want to be a scientist

I love the power that you're saying. the initiative of Girl Powered to be able to not only see girls, but also grow all of the various communities and find that representation. oftentimes I think that's something where. we can do a little bit better, maybe as educators as a whole, you know, I know that's something I tried to do, while we did the STEM camps but even in my classes when we would bring in guest speakers, I would find guest speakers that were Latino.

You know, guest speakers to come in and speak on, you know, science or speak on whether, you know, we, we would bring in people that worked at a water plant to talk to us a little bit about how water work and, you know, just to see that representation, the students were like, wow, okay. Like, you know, they, they, I, you know, we kind of look alike, you know, and I think that's very powerful you're absolutely right.

I think that's something that many times could be a barrier, but now we're seeing great organizations, breaking those barriers. And I think that's wonderful. So now I want to ask you to now, as far as, you know, being able to support this movement, as far as Girl Powered, what are some ways that for your, we'll start here at the, at the school level, what are some ways that your district is helping support, not only the robotics initiative as a whole, but also, the girls teams as well.

[00:26:29] Patricia: So they provide us with resources. the district is actually helping me organize this Lady Bots event, and we are opening it to our entire district, at the district level they're encouraging Girl Powers teams. one year we had, special grants granted to start a Girl Powered team.

 They come out. They help us whatever support we need, especially with our new coaches. We have a great coordinator in our district that goes out to schools and he helps our starter teams. We talk amongst each other. He tries to, during our coaching sessions.

or coaches meeting. Sorry, not coordinator meetings during our coaches meetings. he always spotlights are all girls teams in order to encourage other teams to be more diverse.

[00:27:15] Fonz: There you go. And that's powerful. Then that's wonderful too. When you do have, your district being able to see that vision that you have.

And of course that all starts, through, and this is very powerful cause I know we're already going at a bigger level here, but that all started with the team you started with, it's amazing how this can snowball into something Bigger than you ever thought it could be all because a group of girls that were brave and say, you know what?

we don't want to ask if we can drive, we're going to go ahead and drive our own team. And now look at the work that they've done. so I want to ask those girls that you started with, what grade are they in now?

[00:28:01] Patricia: So I started them in third grade.

My third graders are now in eighth grade and my fourth graders are now in seventh grade.

[00:28:09] Fonz: So you still get to work with them and see them then?

[00:28:11] Patricia: With a couple of them. Some of them came over to, I was in elementary school first when I started with the ladybots. then the last year, the, the. My group of Lady Bots were moving on to middle school.

I surprised them with, I'm going to middle school with you. And so we all moved to middle school together. I only have two of my original here at the school that I'm at right now. one of my previous ones that went to another school, she's taking the robotics class and another one is trying to get a team started on her campus.

[00:28:39] Fonz: Wow, that is amazing. it just started with this, brave group of young ladies to say, Hey, we want to start this and all that they've been able to accomplish. not only that, but what it has turned into. We were talking about this wonderful Girl Powered event that you guys will be hosting, this October.

And now you have, your Lady Bots that are going to be there teaching everybody else. So I know you mentioned that they were going to have stations, but I forgot to mention if this event, is this event going to be just for your district or open to anybody interested, in robotics?

[00:29:15] Patricia: It is just going to be open to Dallas ISD, unfortunately, um, due to budget constraints, we could only open it up to our district. But we do have a large district, so we're hoping to serve over a hundred girls at this event.

[00:29:28] Fonz: Oh, that is amazing. That is wonderful. So now I want to highlight a couple of things that we did mention and that I forgot to really dive into because you mentioned there has been a change as far as the robot types they are going to be using.

So tell us a little bit about that. Prior, what were they using before? And what is it that they're moving into now?

[00:29:50] Patricia: So they started with VEX IQ at the elementary level. and that's. Legos, they're plastic robots. most components are plastic and snap together using pins. and they did that through elementary.

They did that their first year of the middle school team, but now they wanted to try something new. They get last year, they were trying to convince me to switch over to VRC, but I'm moving into middle school. This is new for me. So let's try to keep something a little constant for me.

So they sacrificed themselves for me and we did one year of VEX IQ last year, but they told me this year. No, we're going for VRC. We're moving on to the next level. Ms. Cortez, we're moving on to the next level and they're going on to metal robots. now the pieces are all metal. they have to use

power tools, to cut those pieces. screws. real tools, screwdrivers, and power tools to build this actual robot. So this is something pretty new to a lot of them because they haven't touched power tools before. but they're embracing it. It's taking them some time right now building their drivetrain.

But they're getting it. They've had quite a few hiccups and we've just had to all breathe and come back together. but they're killing it now. They've got that drive train down. Now it's time to start researching their next subsystem and seeing what they're going to build onto it.

[00:31:15] Fonz: That is amazing.

So I want to ask you as a coach, how do you feel about that? now that you're seeing them go on to the next level continue to grow and progress, their confidence is being built up, their technical skills are being built up, the team, the planning, all of those things that you in the very beginning said were, you felt you were not very knowledgeable about, but because you were there to support and guide them, now they're moving on to that level.

But as a coach, what goes through your mind and your heart as you're seeing your girls continue to progress?

[00:31:53] Patricia: Oh, my heart gets so filled seeing them. I just opened up this safe space for them and they just took it and ran with it. I really had no idea what to do to help them with their drive train the other day when they were struggling, but just, we got this girls, we got this, you can do it.

just having that safe space and that encouragement for them really goes a long way. And being there for them. it's an amazing feeling to see that these girls have gone from building these plastic robots to now building these metal robots with very little guidance for me because, well, I, I don't know.

I honestly don't know. I can look up a VEX lesson on the VEX website, and I can try to help you there. Thankfully, we have Mr. Cortez, who helps them out as well with his guidance. we have, another team as well, and they bounce ideas off of each other, which that's amazing to see our boys and our girls collaborate.

It goes back to that diverse thinking where if one of them can't get it, they can ask each other, and bounce ideas off of each other because our brains work in different ways, and they may see it from different perspectives. while they have that little competitive aspect from each of between each other, they still work with each other.

They still help each other. And that's what our world needs. So to see that. In this classroom, we have equal representation of these boys and girls trying to accomplish the same goal and helping each other to get there. it's amazing.

[00:33:20] Fonz: I love it. especially that last part you mentioned even though They may be stuck, with the all boys team they're still collaborating.

And I think that's something that is wonderful in that. Well, maybe not that well, maybe that they, they started with a little bit of lack of confidence in wanting to drive the robots, but now they've built up their confidence you see. That sense of belonging for both teams equally represented, but also that they're communicating and they're working and all those soft skills that are so important.

like we mentioned Omar when he was on the show, mentioned, robotics is more than just the robot. The robot is kind of like, uh, The conductor to build up all these other skills, which are like, we keep talking about the leadership, the communication, you know, just the collaboration, all of that.

And it's wonderful to hear and see how these young ladies have grown, been transformed through not only your guidance, you know, and coaching and encouragement and opening up that safe space in just being there for them, that they feel comfortable enough to Try things on their own step out of their comfort zone, but also not be afraid to, like you mentioned, advocate for themselves and say, Hey, I'm a little stuck here.

Hey team, can you help us out? What are your thoughts on this? Or Mr. Cortez, what are your thoughts? Mrs. Cortez, what are your thoughts? And I think that's something that is powerful that I'm glad that we're highlighting this because, you know, as far as, you know, the robotics aspect.

That's just, to me, a small part of the bigger picture that gets me so excited about this,

[00:35:01] Patricia: the communication, finding your voice through robotics, which is what Omar's book is all about, about these students who found their voice through robotics. And I'm seeing it with my girls as well.

We're at the world championship and they have to communicate with their alliances to try to come up with strategies. And then sometimes they'll step back and, well, they told us to do this, this and this, and I'm like, is that what you want to do? well, no, we're really good at doing this strategy and they can compliment this strategy.

I'm like, did you suggest it? And they're like, no. I was like, well, I don't know why we're trying to be shy right now. Right now is when you need to shine, not be shy. they'll go back and tell their Alliance. this is a better idea. a better way to tackle.

Our challenge to be more successful the voice is the biggest part of robotics. Kids finding their voice, being able to advocate for themselves, being able to say when something's not going to be the best and suggesting solutions to be better with each other.

[00:35:57] Fonz: I love it. Love it. All right. Well, Patricia, so looking ahead, like, what do you envision, your teams, how do you hope that you continue to grow, you know, your robotics programs, you know, from fourth grade up and how to continue to influence these young women to continue to go into the STEM field.

[00:36:17] Patricia: So, campus level, I'll start at the campus level. now that we're doing 4th through 8th grade robotics I'm hoping we can start inspiring our littles, or what we call our 4th graders, our littles, to hope to inspire them to join robotics to maybe get some more teachers on board with coaching robotics We have two new teachers on campus that are going to take over, some of our VEX IX programs.

I'm hoping after they get through this year, maybe they'll tackle on having an all girls team. So starting at the campus level, getting more girls on our robotics teams. We have lots of girls in our robotics classes, now that we're offering that to all of our students

But now hoping to get some more teachers on board. So they can start some more all girls teams, some more teams that are equally represented. moving on to the district level, having our coaches really encourage these girls to have that equal representation, to not just have all boys teams.

I love my boys, but We got to have that equal representation it helps with balance the girls tend to balance out the boys, when they're working and helping stay on target. I really hope to see more girls active on a robotics team and not just doing the basics but going for it big.

[00:37:38] Fonz: That would be great. That is awesome. And that's it. There's something so powerful there. And so now my next question to you is also as you are working, you know, alongside and collaborating with Girl Powered, but for any of us out here, as far as educators or anybody that believes in the vision of Girl Powered.

Is there a way that we can help support the initiative of Girl Powered? You know, and what can either coaches or districts do to, support Girl Powered events?

[00:38:11] Patricia: So starting planning an event. the REC Foundation has All the resources you need They have a list of activities letters to send out to keynote speakers, letters to ask for donations to send out to the media.

They have all the resources you need to plan this event. Then after that volunteer, if you know, there's an event going on, that's Girl Powered. Volunteer for those events. That's great exposure for girls. It's a great learning experience for them. So volunteering, hosting, planning, just get involved with this Girl Powered initiative.

It's to get equal representation across races, genders, all of it.

[00:38:51] Fonz: That's wonderful. as we start wrapping up, I've got one last question for you if you can leave just one lasting message for either an aspiring coach or a coach that has just started, you know, and they're, or maybe, and they're still kind of a little bit unsure as far as what they're doing or their comfort level.

what would that message be for them?

[00:39:14] Patricia: This is going to be a comforting, uncomfortable advice. You're going to fail, but Embrace it. The best learning comes from failure in robotics.

[00:39:23] Fonz: that is powerful. I absolutely love that, but it's so true. I remember, I had a gentleman, Mr.

Al Kingsley, on the show. he said, failure. is just a stepping stone to success. I love that advice. What would be a lasting message you would share with a young girl interested in STEM, but unsure of where to start?

[00:39:46] Patricia: Find the teacher you're most comfortable with and beg her to do it. She will do it for you. That's how my girls got started. They knew they had a safe space with me. Find a teacher you have a safe space with. And get started somewhere. Be involved.

[00:40:03] Fonz: There you go. I love that. and that's so powerful.

And that's all it took, like, for yourself and your ladybots. I mean, that's all it took is just for one or a group of young women to say, Hey, we want to drive our own robot. And it just took off from there. Thank you so much, Patricia. I really appreciate your shares and really your passion, your authenticity and your genuineness, you know, and just to hear your experience as a coach and the knowledge you shared with, aspiring coaches, or maybe even a new coach to the role also as well, but also the importance of not just the robots, but in having a wonderful conversation of what the robot.

Can actually build. I don't know if that makes sense because as they're building, yes, the students are building themselves up as well. And the coaches are building themselves up also through the learning process. So it's been a wonderful, fruitful conversation. So I thank you for that. And so I want to ask, you know, for all our audience members that are listening and those that will be listening in the Dallas area and maybe for your school district, when is the event going to be held?

And how can, Dallas ISD get some more information on that?

[00:41:15] Patricia: the event's going to be held October 26 a Saturday from nine to one. reach out to me, reach out to our STEM coordinator who also has all the details. Mr. Carlos Hernandez and Mr. Omar Cortez. He also has all the information on this Girl Powered event.

if you want to, if you know a female in STEM that would love to be a keynote speaker. At our event, we'd love to have, a woman in STEM speaking about those, whatever field they're a part of and encouraging our girls to continue with this mission. This is the 1st step they're going to a Girl Powered workshop.

Now, we hope that they leave the Girl Powered workshop, not just as, oh, I had a fun Saturday. But going back to their school and joining a robotics team or taking part in their STEM activities on their campus. So if you're a keynote speaker that'd love to come out, a volunteer that'd love to come out, we definitely need all the help and support that we can get.

[00:42:12] Fonz: Excellent. thank you so much, Patricia. if you are interested in getting more information about Girl Powered, you can go to their website, which is girl-powered.org,. So if you are a coach or aspiring coach, or maybe you're an administrator, a teacher that never knew about Girl Powered, Now you can go visit that website.

And maybe this is just that little stepping stone that you need to continue to inspire you and bringing a robotics program to your campus, or just bringing in some amazing resources and making some amazing connections for all of your students. This is something that is powerful. So please make sure you visit that website, before we wrap up, as you know, we always love to end the show With the last three questions, and I'm sure you heard Omar's answers about two weeks ago.

So my first question to you, as we know, every superhero has a weakness or a pain point. And as we know for Superman kryptonite was his weakness. So I want to ask you in the current state of education, what would you say is your current edu kryptonite?

[00:43:21] Patricia: Balance. teachers have to wear many hats. They have different roles. They have different responsibilities. We're teaching multiple contents, multiple subjects, coordinating these after school activities, having our robotics teams, our sports teams, clubs, and then all while still trying to keep up with our students progress in the different content areas.

Who's at what level? What do I need to do to make this kid move from this level So the next level, so teachers are being really stretched thin. So I think my EduKryptonite would be balancing everything, but still giving each role that I do the attention that it deserves.

[00:44:01] Fonz: Great answer. Balance is definitely very important. And as we know, sometimes our plates are full and sometimes they just want to put that little extra, bit on our plate. But you're absolutely right. Balance is definitely important. Now my next question to you is, is who is someone that you like to trade places with for a day?

[00:44:22] Patricia: So this is someone I met at a Girl Powered workshop at the VEX Robotics World Championship Her name is Emily Calandrelli. also known as the Space Gal. She's a graduate from MIT. an engineer. a mom and she's now going to be an astronaut. she also has a science show on Netflix and on YouTube.

Emily's Wonder Lab, I think it's amazing what she's doing, encouraging our girls to be a part of science, technology, and of course, to be a part of robotics.

[00:44:53] Fonz: Love it. Thank you so much for sharing that and I'm definitely going to look her up that way I can get some more information as well and share that wonderful resource for all our audience members.

And my last question to you is the following. If you could have a billboard with anything on it, what would it be and why?

[00:45:12] Patricia: So the text, STEM is for everyone. Dream big. And then in the background, I'd have images of my lady bots in action, whether it's them driving programming or building.

[00:45:25] Fonz: I love it. I love it.

I can see, you know, now that they have like those digital billboards, that'd be great because now you can actually have video of them around and then you can have that text, which is awesome. You know, STEM is for everyone. And then love it. That is a wonderful billboard. Wonderful idea. And again, Patricia, thank you so much for being an amazing guest.

I can't believe it's been about a year since the first time we met. I got to revisit with Omar a couple of episodes back and now I get to revisit with you. it's so great to hear the work that. Both of you are still doing the passion and the heart that you have to help, your robotics teams and to continue to push forward with women in STEM, girls in STEM, and to grow that as well.

I thank you so much for what you're doing for our learning community, because it's something powerful that I know later on, sometimes as educators, we don't get to see the fruit of our labor. So many years, many years, but eventually that fruit is going to be something wonderful and amazing.

And just to think that those wonderful future leaders of tomorrow have gone through your classrooms and are now doing some wonderful things is something that's powerful. So thank you for what you're doing and Omar and the rest of your district is doing, as far as promoting STEM. So thank you so much.

[00:46:45] Patricia: Thank you so much for having us and for always supporting the Lady Bots Initiative and letting us know. Of

[00:46:50] Fonz: course. Anytime. And you're always welcome back if next time you want to come back again, you know, with both you and Omar, that'd be great. And next time you want to come back with you, Omar, and maybe somebody again from Girl Powered to continue that conversation, let me know.

you always have an open invite. we can definitely make that happen. And just to continue to promote STEM. I'll be more than happy to amplify your work and your voices.

It's always a pleasure to do that. for all our audience members thank you as always. For your support. As you know, we do what we do for you so we can bring you some amazing conversations, just like we did today. And also amazing guests with amazing hearts just to hear their stories and what they're doing.

That will hopefully inspire you and inspire everybody in our education space. thank you so much. Please make sure you go over to our website at my ed tech dot life, where you can check out this amazing episode and the other 295 wonderful episodes

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