Girls of Steel has a variety of programs for all ages. We run four main FIRST programs to teach science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) by working on robots of various sizes. We also have some other programs that happen periodically throughout the year.
Our Robotics Programs
7th through 12th grade students
Our newly restructured program focuses on teaching technical and business skills to girls through two types of FIRST Robotics competitions.
Both types work by focusing on teaching technical and business skills of working on robots. Students start by analyzing the year’s competition rules. They then learn how to design (through CAD), manufacture (through our machine shop and power tools), and program (though coding environments). They also work on presentations for awards judges, document their process in engineering notebooks, and learn project management to produce a robot. The teams all compete at regional competitions throughout Pennsylvania and nearby areas.
Students that want a more laid-back, longer deadlines program can join our FIRST Technical Challenge teams. They will build 18″ x 18″ x 18″ robots from idea to fully working machine. This is also great for students that are involved in multiple activities at school.
Students that want a more intense, quick implementation experience can join our FIRST Robotics Competition team. They will learn fast iteration skills on a fall project, then take that experience to build a 3 foot robot up to 120 pounds in six weeks in the winter. This is great for students that want to dive deep into robotics, engineering, business, or other skills as their primary after-school activity.
Our 7th-12th grade program runs from July through approximately April.
More specific details about our program is on the 7th-12th grade page.
4nd through 6th grade students
For our all-gender middle program, we introduce science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to children through fun, exciting hands-on learning and building. Students also compete in FIRST LEGO League Challenge competitions, which compete on one vs one matches while students also give presentations on inventions that they create related to the competition’s theme.
This program runs from early September to mid-December.
2nd through 4th grade students
Similar to the 4th-6th program, our youngest all-gender program also introduces science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to children through the use of LEGO robots. We use the FIRST LEGO League Explore program, which focuses more on learning to build LEGO structures to learn about engineering topics.
This program runs annually in the spring.
FLL Summer Camps
We usually run some summer camps for students of various age groups to help them experience robotics. These camps can include working with Girl Scouts to help them earn robotics badges, inviting students from China to build and compete in an FIRST Robotics Competition off-season event, and teaching kids to use tools to build little “Meep Boop” robots.
Our summer camp offerings vary by year. We’ll try to publicize them as soon as we’re aware what we’re doing that summer.
For summer 2026, we’re offering:
- Make: Board Games (Digital design, CAD, & 3D printing) week-long camp
Rising 4th-8th grades, July 20-July 24 - Make: 2D Video Games (Coding & digital design) week-long camp
Rising 4th-8th grades, July 27-July 31 - Intensive Intro to Robotics two-week camp
Rising 7th-12th grades, August 3-August 14
Does your child want to join us?
We would love to have you join! We typically open applications for our programs in the summer and summer camps in the spring. Students need to reapply every year.
We have a mailing list for updates to our programs as well as announcements of when applications open.