May 02, 2025

Girl Scouts' new STEM Center at Camp Ledgewood places women at vanguard of innovation

One of the first badges that Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low created more than 100 years ago was for aviation — an act that Girl Scouts Senior Natalie Laymon says continues to propel women toward pioneering achievements.

"As a flying enthusiast, she believed girls should have the same learning opportunities as boys," Laymon said. "She thought that was the most out-of-this-world experience a girl could have in Girl Scouts."

Speaking from a podium to a crowd of about 200 people on May 2 in Peninsula, Laymon was one of three Girl Scouts who talked about aspiring to "new heights" with the opening of a new Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio STEM Center at Camp Ledgewood.

The Girl Scouts raised more than $8.5 million for the facility, formally known as the Vivian von Gruenigen MD STEM Center of Excellence, on the Daley Family Campus for STEM Innovation at Camp Ledgewood, said Kathy Moock, chair of Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio's board of directors.

"So many people think Girl Scouts is cookies, crafts and camping," Moock said. "We love all those things, and we do all those things, but Girl Scouts is so much more. This STEM Center will allow girls to see they will have many opportunities in the world of science, technology, engineering and math."

The center's namesake, Dr. Vivian von Gruenigen, a Girl Scout, serves as professor at the Northeast Ohio Medical University's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and College of Graduate Studies and program director of the university's master of leadership in health systems science.

Having excelled in science from a young age, von Gruenigen took a career interest test in high school that came back with nursing as a viable career choice. She did study in nursing and worked in the field, "and I enjoyed it immensely," she said, but she found that she wanted to start on another track. In her career as a doctor, she's board-certified as an ob-gyn and gynecologic oncologist and has served in numerous leadership positions and gathered numerous awards and accolades.

Meredythe Daley of the Daley Family Foundation held back tears as she recalled how much she enjoyed and felt accepted at Camp Ledgewood in the 1960s.

Daley described herself as "a lifetime Girl Scout with a math and computer background."

What's in and around the STEM Center?

The new, 8,000-foot STEM Center on the 350-acre Camp Ledgewood property includes a wet lab, a tech workshop, an outdoor classroom, a green roof with plants and an enclosable observatory.

The roof collects rainwater, “and then we guide it through to this kind of natural process where we try to emulate a wetland and what nature does with rainwater," said Melinda Scalfaro, partner and architect at So?L Harris/Day Architecture, who designed the building.

“This camp is in the center of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, so (stakeholders) wanted it to be nature-inspired and fit within the camp, so they didn't want it to be too far on the STEM side," Scalfaro said. "They still wanted it to be rooted in nature. So I kind of came up with the theme of biomimicry, so nature-inspired design.”

Regina Erdman, interior designer at So?L Harris/Day Architecture, said the building's color scheme is "derived from the natural birds that you’ll see on site.”

The center will also host field trips for boys and girls, said Jane Christyson, CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio.

Elsewhere on the campus, activities such as high rope courses and ziplines instill confidence in girls, Daley said.

Who funded the STEM Center?

In total, 318 donors contributed to the center, Moock said.

Highlighting the importance of funding, she said the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University found that less than 2% of all philanthropic funding in the U.S. is directed to women and girls.

Major donors to the STEM Center included von Gruenigen, Daley and Moock, among others.

The May 2 grand opening of the STEM Center followed another event on May 1 that included speeches from representatives of corporate donors FirstEnergy and TransDigm Group.

In attendance at the grand opening on May 2 were multiple politicians from the Ohio General Assembly and U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Akron. Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and other representatives from that agency were present, as were representatives from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Lake Erie Commission.

The STEM field is changing, said Sykes, who serves on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

She said every child, "not just the privileged few," should have "the tools to explore, to question and to innovate."

In 2024, Sykes provided a $850,000 ceremonial check; the funding came from that year's federal spending bill, according to a news release from her office.

"If you've ever had the privilege of speaking to a troop of Girl Scouts, you know how driven and thoughtful and bold they can be," Sykes said. "These young leaders want to shape the future. And with this new center and with our mentorship and guidance, they absolutely will."

By: Patrick Williams
Source: Akron Beacon Journal

Congresswoman Emilia Sykes

Girl Scouts' new STEM Center at Camp Ledgewood places women at vanguard of innovation