Fairlawn fourth grader Piper Mancuso has been a Girl Scout since kindergarten. She joins her troop each summer at Camp Ledgewood in Peninsula, a spot within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, to ride horses, explore hiking trails and participate in activities.
So she was thrilled to come to the Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio’s new Vivian von Gruenigen, MD, STEM Center of Excellence, which opened on the property May 1.
Mancuso was making a robotic cockroach in the Kathy and Andy Moock Wet Lab of the center. She was using a small solar panel, motor, wires and double-sided tape to make the insect. When it’s pointed toward the sun, the bug vibrates.
“I think it’s really cool and fun here,” she said. “Now we can spend our time here, like how we can go here at Girl Scout camps.”
Mancuso is one of dozens of youths who have experienced hands-on learning this summer using science, technology, engineering and math at the $8 million, 8,000-square-foot facility. It is the only Girl Scout camp in the country located in a national park.
Construction began in August of 2023 and was completed in early 2025. Two hundred campers from multiple Girl Scout troops visited the site weeks after the grand opening.
“They all got to do an experience, a STEM experience inside,” said Sarah Wallace, director of STEM experience. “They got to play with some of the other stuff outside,” such as learning about wind turbines on the green roof.
A few other offerings include stargazing in the observatory, practicing precision cutting while using a table-top machine in the tech lab and watching solar-infused flower petals move with the sun while walking on an outside trail.
Peaking the interest of Akron students
The space isn’t just for girls. School-age children will be able to explore the STEM center during field trips this upcoming school year.
“We already have a ton of teachers and administrators who have expressed interest,” Wallace said, noting that the option to schedule a field trip went live Aug. 4.
Those interested include Akron schools Superintendent Mary Outley, Wallace said, who toured the facility with other area school district principals and superintendents. They were joined by representatives from Akron-area businesses such as the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Smucker’s.
There are places “in Akron that have these state-of-the art-facilities that aren’t old school versions of factories,” Wallace said. “They’re really doing innovative, creative work, and we want to make sure that kids, today’s kids, know what they’re doing there and see it as a possible career path.”
Akron students might learn about robotics at the STEM center and decide to take robotic-related courses in high school, which will prepare them for a job in that field, she said.
Girls can have a career in STEM too
Firestone Community Learning Center student Alyssa Loudy, who also made a robotic cockroach, said she hasn’t worked with electronics while in Girl Scouts but usually makes “crafts and posters and sells cookies.” She said she now realizes there are more options for her.
That’s the point of this facility — to show young girls there’s a place for them in STEM, said Jane Christyson, the CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio.
“Only 28% of the workers in STEM fields right now are women, and only 12% of management are women, so women are really underrepresented in this area,” Christyson said.
Jen Abendot, who teaches in the wet lab, spent her career teaching after-school programs in engineering and using biology to teach kids about dissecting bugs. While growing up, she said she was one of only a few girls studying STEM.
“It’s just nice seeing what Girl Scouts is providing, a STEM facility for them, especially if you’re in middle school or high school when a lot of girls drop out of the STEM courses,” she said.
A study by the American Institutes for Research shows that, by age six, kids think boys are better than girls at computers and engineering. As girls age, their bias perception grows, possibly limiting them from pursuing tech careers.
Prior to 2017, Girl Scouts could earn badges in entrepreneurship, outdoors and life skills. Now, girls of all ages such as Mancuso, who’s a junior Girl Scout, and Loudy, who’s a senior Girl Scout, can work toward one of the 170 STEM badges offered, such as a badge in robotics or cyber security.
Earning a badge isn’t just to satisfy a short-term goal — it’s to create lasting change.
Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio’s board members wanted to create lasting change too. That’s why they decided to build the STEM Center, Christyson said. This came in addition to a smaller facility in Sheffield, a suburb of Cleveland, called the Jane Norton Girl Scout DreamLab. It was also built and opened in January of 2025 with a lot of the same components and equipment.
The 19,000 Girl Scouts across Northeast Ohio now have more opportunity to learn about STEM with the addition of these new facilities.
All school-age children can benefit, since the STEM center in Peninsula covers an 18-county school district radius. Wallace said any school district can take a field trip there.
She’s also hoping to offer future overnight field trips where students can stay at Camp Ledgewood and explore the STEM center.
