This past fall, Lancaster Mennonite (LM) 12th-grader Claire Thomas started a chapter of Math4Girls. The after-school club for fourth- and fifth-grade girls aims to close the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and build interest in and engagement with mathematics.

Last summer, Claire studied at the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences, where she met the founder of Math4Girls. There, she was inspired to start the LM chapter.

Throughout the year, Claire and the younger students met to explore math concepts through various activities. Topics included divisibility rules, binary code, the Mayan number system, the Four Color theorem, fractals, sequences, and cryptography. The club not only imparted knowledge and increased participants' skill levels, but it also it built a community.