Centre coeds mentor Boyle Middle School girls

DANVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Women make up almost 50 percent of the workforce in the United States but only a quarter of those women are working in science or mathematics-related fields, a separation that begins around middle school.

Centre College sophomore Ceci Vollbrecht and some of her classmates are doing what they can to reverse the trend — starting with girls at the Boyle County Middle School.

Vollbrecht and her classmates have formed GEMS — Girls in Engineering, Math and Science — a mentoring program that meets after school at BCMS in an effort to grow the scientific interest in the next generation of girls.

GEMS is currently only available at the Boyle County Middle School, but Vollbrecht hopes to someday expand to other schools.

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