Edgewood Middle School

Warsaw, IN – Edgewood Middle School’s annual Forget Princess, I Want to Be an Engineer event celebrated its seventh year last week. The event was created to spark interest in engineering among middle school girls by providing hands-on, real-world experiences with local female engineering professionals.

This year’s engineering challenge featured approximately 48 seventh and eighth-grade girls. Fourteen female engineers volunteered their time and expertise to mentor students in small groups. Engineers from Zimmer Biomet, Honeywell Aerospace, OrthoPediatrics and Johnson & Johnson guided participants through the design process as they created and tested safety features for wooden cars carrying two “passengers” eggs.

Each team received identical materials to design, build and test their cars down a ramp toward a concrete barrier, learning firsthand how engineering principles impact safety and performance. The event concluded with a live test run and awards for the top teams.

Abbi Richcreek, Engineering, Technology & PLTW Instructor, shared, “Middle school is an exciting time for students to explore future career pathways. This event helps young girls build awareness and confidence in engineering. Their feedback was overwhelmingly positive; many shared that they wished they had even more time to collaborate with their groups and mentors. They loved the experience and are eager for more opportunities like this. I’m grateful to provide a space where girls can learn, create, and have fun at the same time.”

Volunteers included: Jen Molinda, Kira Fisher, Abigail Parsons, Selom Kugbe, Elizabeth Perepezko, Rachel Grubbs, Casey Harmon, Kim Mimnaugh, Erin Gottfried, Rebecca Boldt, Jessica Caswell, Lauren Partington, Angela Raspor and Natalie Gerber.

Edgewood Middle School is proud to partner with the Society of Women Engineers and Northeast Chapter, who generously sponsored shirts, snacks, and materials for the event.