This fall at Ranney School in Tinton Falls, NJ, the Upper School launched a Girls in Science Club. Made up of both female and male members, the club’s goal is to motivate and inspire girls to study and stay in science, whether it’s medicine, engineering, marine biology and so forth, says Club Founder and Advisor Marnie Jones, an Upper School Science Teacher.

Mrs. Jones has invited Ranney moms who work in science to participate in a guest speaker series for the club. So far, Ranney Board Member Dr. Ann Ross (Jillian ’17 and Nicholas ’17), a neonatologist, and Dr. Shalini Gupta (Anisha ’18 and Priya ’23), an internist, have come to campus to discuss their experiences as doctors with the group. For example, Dr. Gupta discussed what students can expect in terms of education, training and compensation if they choose to follow an internist path as well as how internists manage diagnoses and general patient care.

“The club helps to foster children going into science and to help them to not think of science as a taboo,” said Dr. Gupta.

Several other Ranney “science moms” have committed to speaking to the club in the coming months, including Dr. Penny Turtel (Joseph ’15), Dr. Nancy Staats (Rachel ’16) and Dr. Evangelia K. Nicholas (Vasilios ’16).

Looking ahead, Mrs. Jones hopes the club may evolve to include field trips to see women in science at work. She also hopes to see student-adult mentor relationships form. “Our moms here at Ranney as well as external speakers and mentors can share their stories of how they got where they are today and inspire our current students’ futures.”