I received the following information as a blogger via Walt Disney Publications. While I attended an expense paid trip by Disney to the press events for The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out, and Miles From Tomorrowland, all opinions are 100% my own.
Back in October I shared with my experience visiting the Google Headquarters in California! It was such an awesome visit, and I was able to learn more about Disney Jr’s MILES FROM TOMORROWLAND, one of my son’s favorite television shows, and it’s connection to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
What an absolutely amazing experience! You can read more about about my visit in detail, and check out some of the photos I took on their campus, at the link above.For those that aren’t familiar, MILES is centered around the Callisto family, who live on the Stellosphere, and spaceship! Miles Callisto himself is an adventurous, curious, but at times reckless good-nature boy.
One aspect I absolutely love about this show is the emphasis on the STEM and encouraging children to pursue that field of study. Now my son is only four years old, but thanks to MILES he is already showing such an interest in engineering and space exploration. He actually starts STEM classes next year once he is five! Did you know that by the year 2020, there will be 1.4 million computing-related job openings? Definitely sounds like this is the field to look into!
I love that Disney Jr is even taking their focus a bit further and really working to inspire young girls to explore this often male-dominated field. On the show, Miles has a sister, Loretta, who is quite the smart young lady! She just loves science, and in an upcoming episode, she will use her awesome coding skills to discover a hidden planet! Check out “The Discovery Expedition” episode of MILES FROM TOMMOROWLAND this Friday on the Disney Channel at 10:30 AM ET.
Miles from Tomorrowland Loretta Coding Featurette
Coding Tomorrow: STEM Panel
As I mentioned in my previous post, we listened to an amazing panel on encouraging kids to discover the STEM field, and specifically inspiring girls.
The panel was moderated by Julie Ann Crommett, CS Education in Media Program Manager at Google. Participants included: Sascha Paladino, MILES FROM TOMORROWLAND Creator and Executive Producer; Diane Ikemiyashiro, Director of Original Programming, Disney Junior; Isis Anchalee, Software Engineer, Creator of #Ilooklikeanengineer Movement; Dr. Yvonne Cagle, NASA Astronaut and Consultant on MILES FROM TOMORROWLAND; and Angela Navarro, Google Software Engineer.
STEM is often a field that promineatly men go into. It was truly inspiring to hear the ladies’ message of emporing more women to discover STEM and related fields. I think having a young girl, such as Loretta, on a popular kids TV show really works as a role model to say “Hey! Girls can do coding too!” 
I loved hearing Isis Anchalee chat about her rock star hashtag #ILookLikeAnEngineer! Anchalee actually currently works as a full-stack Platform Engineer for a software company. She appeared in a few of her company’s ads for a campaign. These ads got attention when the members of the public offered their opinions that it was a PR stunt, and Achalee wasn’t actually an engineer. It was then after that fiasco, she decided to encourage other engineers who break the cookie-cutter mold of what people think engineers “look like” to participate in her #ILookLikeAnEngineer hashtag on social media.
She is one smart woman and definitely a role model for young girls to look up to. I could tell during her presentation, she definitely has a passion for technology and engineering.
Angela Navarro is currently works at Google as a Software Engineer. In addition to Google, she has also worked for Facebook and Bluebeam Software! In addition to MILES FROM TOMORROWLAND, she has helped Disney and ABC on several shows portraying females who code. She noted that as a child, she was always curious about science, especially in everything she encountered in life. Even when playing sports, she looked at the scientific aspect. More importantly, her parents always encouraged her to pursue her passions, such as coding and technology!
It was such an honor to meet Dr. Yvonne Cable, an American NASA astronaut who also served in the United States Air Force, AND as a degree in biochemistry AND a doctorate of medicine. It really was inspiring to hear her speak. She works as a consultant on MILES FROM TOMORROWLAND and loves that she can share her passion of STEM and space exploration with young minds. She is the perfect example of how young girls can grow up to do anything they put their mind to!
As a career woman myself, I love that Disney Jr and Google are teaming up to inspire girls, and empowering them to discover that they too can have a career! STEM and coding isn’t just for the “guys”. Us women can certainly have a budding career in this field too!
Don’t forget! This Friday, be sure to catch all new episodes of MILES FROM TOMORROWLAND, 10:30 AM EST, on the Disney Channel!
Want to see more of my adventures in San Francisco? Take a look at my Twitter (@AshBG) and Instagram (@ashb4211). Make sure you follow the hashtags #GoodDinoEvent, #InsideOutBloggers, #MilesEvent, and #Waltagram.
I’ll have to check out the Miles From Tomorrowland. I think it is something my kids would enjoy watching.
If it will encourage my daughter’s interest in the sciences, then I will definitely encourage her to watch it!
How fun! I have two daughters and they really like science. This is a great way to encourage them.
Looks like so much fun, I can’t wait to check it out. I know the boychild is going to love it.
This is so awesome! STEM is our future, but it seems like a lot of things focusing on STEM forget to include girls. LOVE IT!