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XTO and Young Women's Leadership Academy team up for summer STEM lessons

"In that first 24 hour period I think we had over 1,000 views [on Facebook live] and it continues to grow," Janie Kenney, XTO program manager said.

MIDLAND, Texas — Due to COVID-19, XTO's Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day was cancelled.

Their hope was to inspire female students to consider a career in engineering. 

So with that same hope, instead, XTO is teaming up with Midland ISD to create a fun way for these students to continue learning through the summer. 

And learning can be fun when lava lamps and fireworks in a jar are involved. 

These are the kinds of experiments nearly 20 XTO engineers are teaching young students across the Permian. 

"We hope that they're going to be engaged and excited about choosing the advanced sciences. This way when those schoolers go off to university, they'll have the right foundation to jump into a STEM based field of study," Janie Kenney, XTO Delaware Basin facilities program manager said. 

Less than a month ago these lessons and experiments kick started on Facebook live, only lasting about 5 or 6 minutes each. 

There have been 3 Facebook lives so far and one of the creators of the initiative said each experiment has sky rocketed, gathering over 1,000 views in the first 24 hours and continues to grow. 

"When I selected mine, I tried to find a science principle that I use here at work and then be able to explain that principle to the middle schoolers and I can show them how it relates to my job today," Kenney said. 

These engineers say the most rewarding part is opening up these students' minds and showing them the all the real world possibilities that come with studying STEM.

"I was not fortunate enough to be apart of something like this while growing up, but I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to be a part of this as an adult and sharing those learnings with these middle schoolers," Kenney said. 

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You can find these weekly Stay at Home STEM experiments on XTO Energy's Facebook page every Thursday at 3 p.m. CST.  

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