Stories of Impact
Yael Schindler, age 11
6th Grader
SFUSD
Yael Schindler, a Lawton K-8 Alternative school student since Kindergarten, has always appreciated her school, wonderful teachers, and all her classes. In upper grades, she encountered advanced STEM material but felt less confident in coed classes. As she got into the upper grades, her classes introduced more advanced STEM material which she enjoyed but didn’t always feel confident about participating in when there were other students who were more assertive
“Our robotics club is so much fun and we always have something interesting to work on, but what I like most is that everyone here is a girl.”
At a teacher’s suggestion, Yael explored Lawton’s Girls Robotic Club, launched with Salesforce funding in 2015 to create a safe environment for girls to pursue STEM subjects. Traditional STEM settings often favor boys, limiting girls’ chances. By creating the space restricted to girls and designing curricula that is most appealing for them, the students have a real chance to fully participate and grow. Yael, naturally shy, hesitated in coed classes but found the club inclusive, dispelling the notion that STEM is “geared for boys.” It has shown her how this content and study is open and welcoming to her to explore too.
