MIDDLEBURG – These days, troops at the North Fork Girl Scout camp are doing more than just selling cookies.

On May 14, the troops hosted a duct tape regatta, in which the girls designed, built and sailed their boats across a pool.

“First we had to gather a lot of cardboard and duct tape, then we developed a rectangular design, then we had to make the boat buoyant,” said Scout Erica Sexton, 14. “We had to imagine being in the water, think about a boat design and how it would work in the water.”

The races started early that morning with the youngest Scouts, the Daisies, setting sail and ending with the senior scouts, the Cadettes.

“At first when we went in, we started to sink a little bit. When we scooted up, we made it and won first place.” said Daisy Scout Lillian Shull, 6. Shull and her partner Morgan Jaramillo, 6, won the Daisy level race.

The Scouts took their boats to the pool, and put their seamanship to the test. Some making it across and some not. However, it would be an understatement to say that the scouts simply had “fun.”

“We have a bunch of girls with an age range between 9 and 11, who don’t know what mass displacement is, so for them to get these boats together and realize what they need is phenomenal,” said Scout leader Jean Nayfack. “It’s difficult, but we showed them experiments regarding density, a lot of which they do when earning badges.”

This is all a part of an effort to get the girls some experience in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, areas of study that hasn’t been very popular with female students.

“As far STEM careers, women are a minority,” said Scout Leader Michelle McCreary. “This might open a new career path for them.”

According to a study done by the United States Department of Commerce, less than 25 percent of STEM jobs in the US are held by women. The Troop Leaders and Councilors do not take those statistics lightly.

“It’s important to prepare us for the real world and jump start career ideas,” Sexton said. “Like with engineering, constructing something, or just giving us ideas on what we can do with our futures.”

The girls in this troop, and in troops across the U.S., are going above and beyond to learn valuable skills, while having fun in the process.

“I think it’s great that the Girl Scouts are giving them this chance, the girls sat down and drew their plans, while finding out what works or doesn’t work,” said Troop parent Marcia VanBoskerck. “I love what they’re doing, it’s far beyond what we were doing when I was in the Scouts.”