TAMPA, Fla. — A new club is empowering girls in STEM.

What You Need To Know • All-girls robotics team encourages interest in STEM • Celesteels have a scrimmage Oct. 25 • Team is working toward qualifying for FIRST Tech Challenge State Championship

Students are building confidence while building a robot at St. Petersburg College’s St. Petersburg/Gibbs Campus Collegiate High School .

“I’ve always been interested in math, and I know it’s not very common for girls to be engineers,” said Abrao Rodriguez, who is one of the team leaders.

“We had so many students interested in robotics that we needed to create a third team,” said chemistry teacher Janice Smickle.

“Once we got everyone together, we were able to have one team that ended up being all girls,” Smickle said. “And I’m an engin

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