MACON, Ga. (WGXA) -- The Girl Scouts organization just announced it will be adding new badges related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM.
Local Middle Georgia troops are already getting their head start. The girls of Troop 60008 are learning the basics of coding.
"I really do like coding because what coding is you get to control a character or person to do things that you want them to do like walk or interact with different items," said Emily Brooks with the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia.
Brooks said she is excited they are finally getting official STEM badges.
"I love math it's my favorite subject and since we now are using STEM in Girl Scouts I get to have the feeling of STEM in school and in Girl Scouts," Brooks said.
The Girl Scouts are now rolling out 23 new badges all based off of STEM.
Middle Georgia troop leader Stacy Brown hopes this will help encourage girls to participate in a field that is traditionally dominated by men.
"I am always pitching them girls can do math, girls can. Girls can do science, girls can do anything they put their mind to as longs as they want to do it, they decide to make that commitment and they will go after it and don't quit, they will make it," said Brown.
Some of the activities girls can do to earn the new badges include coding, designing robots , and gathering data from the outdoors.
There are different levels of badges to help encourage the girls to keep learning more.
"They have a knack for it, kids and coding, you know kids and coding they're on those devices all the time, they are on computers all the time, watching Youtube they can do so many things," Brown said.
Brooks is only in middle school and is already seeing the future benefits of learning STEM.
"Math and science is really important when you get older you get a job because math and science goes whereever you go," Brooks said.
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