The Women Empowered by Science (WEBS) Club at Wilkes University stands to get students motivated to become mentors for girls in the younger generation who are interested in science.

The WEBS club is designed to motivate young women who have a sincere interest in the sciences and wish to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to reach their full potential in that field. However, in order for these young women to pursue their interests, they need mentors to show them the ropes.

Every month there is a program curated by WEBS where girls from local schools come to Wilkes University after school to participate in a variety of laboratory activities. Several different coordinator positions are available to help with set-up, hands-on activity, clean up, organization, and fundraising.

“It’s an awesome opportunity that we don’t want people to miss out on,” said junior WEBS member and Adventures in Science Coordinator, Erica Mabry.

WEBS meets during club hours on every other Thursday. During these hours the students involved discuss upcoming programs and fundraising ideas. The club even works with the busy schedules of their volunteers. Volunteer signs ups for WEBS will be sent out via Wilkes Today and placed around campus near the end of March and early April.

“We want to grow our numbers to be a bigger club and have a bigger impact,” said Brianna Galvin, Vice President of WEBS.

This club also works hand in hand with Adventures in Science, which falls on April 27 this year. This full day of science caters to approximately 250 fifth-graders. Volunteers, again, are needed to assist with labs, guiding the students, set-up, clean up and more.

“To see the kids’ reactions to it, it’s just, it’s priceless. And this is why we do what we do. Not only to encourage kids to be interested in science, but to have that courage and confidence to keep going with it and also have fun with it,” said Mabry.

From this year forward, WEBS’ main focus will be fundraising. Many girls who are intrigued by WEBS and want to become involved come from less fortunate families who cannot afford to send their children to the program. Thus, the goal is ultimately to be able to sponsor as many girls as possible to attend the programs and summer camps.

“Anytime I have seen students get involved with this problem, they are so happy they did. The mentoring is awesome; our students are just incredible mentors … Be that mentor. Be that person that a young lady can look up to,” said Debra Chapman, instructor of biology and adviser of WEBS and Adventures in Science.

For more information about joining WEBS or volunteering for Adventures in Science, contact Debra Chapman at [email protected] or Erica Mabry at [email protected].