Spring into April

I’m writing this email from a cozy local coffee shop, where the sun is shining, and cherry blossoms are in full bloom—a beautiful reminder that spring has finally arrived.

Spring is a season of renewal and refreshment. After the long winter, we welcome the return of greenery, sunshine, and the vibrant energy of nature. Animals emerge from hibernation, pollinators resume their essential work, and the world around us bursts back to life.

As humans, we often see ourselves as separate from nature, but in reality, we are deeply connected. Like the plants and animals around us, we grow, evolve, and continuously strive to better ourselves—both individually and as a community.

Here’s to embracing growth and new beginnings together!

- Lauren and Jie Ying

Upcoming Events

RSVP Here: April Events

SPIN Hangout #3

Friday, April 11th from 6:00pm to 8:00pm

Lab Day #4

Saturday, April 19th from 10:00pm to 1:00pm

Optional Field Day: Tide Pooling

Saturday, April 26th from 9:30am to 2:30pm
Cap of 10 Youth!

Fun Family Friendly Events!

Your Monthly Recap

March was a busy month for SPIN Forward - we had many exciting events including another hangout, lab day and a field day! Youth really brought the energy this month thinking creatively and learning fun new skills.

What Did We Learn About?

Mood Board Hangout

Our 6th/7th grade cohort lead, Jaidyn, hosted an amazing hangout workshop! We gathered to create our own mood boards, each showcasing our unique personalities and aesthetics. It was so much fun exploring 70s National Geographicmagazines, repurposing old fabrics, and even experimenting with leather! Creativity brought us together—join us at our next hangout!

Lab Day

6th/7th Grade: Hydroponic Systems – Students explored gardening by designing and building their own hydroponic systems, learning about sustainable food production.
8th Grade Biomimicry: Beeswax Wraps – Inspired by nature, students created reusable beeswax wraps as an eco-friendly alternative to plastic, applying biomimicry principles to everyday sustainability.

9th Grade: Canning Strawberries – Students learned the art of food preservation by canning fresh strawberries, gaining hands-on experience in sustainable food storage techniques.
10th Grade: Green Building Design – Students got into sustainable architecture, designing eco-friendly building plans that incorporate energy efficiency and environmental responsibility.

Field Day

We were so happy to have 91 SPIN youth and families join us for our field day at the Seattle Aquarium! It was an incredible experience as youth explored three engaging stations: learning about the Ocean Pavilion, conducting Plankton Tows, using microscopes to identify the plankton they sampled, and enjoying a special behind-the-scenes tour of the Window on Washington Waters exhibit. A huge thank you to everyone who participated! We look forward to hosting more family events in the future.

Riddle of the Month!

I come as an early surprise,
Sneaking up on you in disguise.
You might believe what I say is true,
But beware... I may be tricking you!

Click to Reveal the Answer

Youth Testimonials

Do you want to share about your experiences in SPIN Forward so far? Then you are in the right place! Fill out this Google form, and we will feature your testimonial on our Instagram and/or website. We want highlight more of our amazing SPIN Forward youth, so this is a great opportunity for the community to learn more about you and SPIN Forward!

Click Here to Submit Responses!

Keeping Up with the SPIN Girls Team!

Meet 9th Grade Mentor: Lynette Shiroma

Introduce yourself a little:

Hi, my name is Lynette Shiroma, and I’m a lead project engineer at Boeing! I specifically work in risk mitigation and material obsolescence. Material obsolescence is the process where materials become outdated, no longer available, or no longer suitable for use due to factors like technological advancements, changes in regulations, or a decline in demand. This means that as a project engineer, I need to ensure that if materials become obsolete, there are alternative replacements so that planes can continue flying safely. A successful project requires an intense amount of coordination and collaboration with many different people: design engineers, materials or chemical engineers, supply chain and procurement analysts, and environmental engineers.

I grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii as a fourth generation Japanese American and graduated from the University of Hawaii with a degree in mechanical engineering. I moved to Washington in 2009 for my first job at Boeing soon after graduation. After spending close to a decade working for Boeing, I worked for different aerospace companies for 3 years in both Washington State and California. However, I moved back to Washington to start working for Boeing again, which is also when I started mentoring in SPIN Girls.

I enjoy volunteering in STEM advocacy and in worker rights advocacy. Recently, I won an election to become vice president for my union (Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace), which has been an exciting experience! In my free time, I also enjoy watching soccer like the Premier League and women’s soccer, doing informational reading like reading textbooks, reading about psychology, or other nonfiction topics, and hanging out with my dog, a jack russell terrier mix.

What is your current job?

In Boeing, there are 6 levels of engineers. Currently, I’m at Level 4 as a senior engineer who has many years of experience in the industry, often involved with leading projects and mentoring junior engineers, and knowledgeable in a broad range of topics. One of the projects I’m leading is managing the impacts of 3M’s end of manufacturing PFAS by the end of 2025 on some Boeing products, ensuring alternates are ready under an aggressive deadline.

What are some challenges you have experienced in your job?

A challenge that I have faced is experiencing gender discrimination in my workplace from male co-workers. There is often this rosy picture of wanting more diverse perspectives from women, BIPOC, and other minorities in STEM, but this is not always the reality in certain workplaces or industries. Although I was experiencing gender discrimination, my male co-workers didn’t believe me.

This was because I didn’t have the proper documentation at the time to prove I was experiencing gender discrimination. That meant I also didn’t take legal action, especially since this company, like many other companies, has ready access to legal resources to make it seem like this is not what was happening. If I knew how to document better, then I would have tried to expose this issue. I didn’t, so the best I could do was leave that job. Looking back, I find it strange that information about how to document workplace discrimination was not readily accessible.

However, now as a union officer, I want to make efforts towards minimizing this issue by raising awareness and making resources available. During this time, I relied on an organization called Society of Women Engineers who provided guidance on my situation. Their support showed me that having a community of people who can understand your difficult challenges and bring encouragement and comfort is so crucial to having success in any pursuit or career. Your gender or any part of your identity should not discourage you from working in a field if you truly love it.

Another challenge I’ve found related to my job is the difficulty of entering the job market. I’m extremely grateful that I was offered a job right out of college, especially during the Great Recession, but I understand some of my peers at the time were not. While this was a challenging period of time, this challenge of landing a job has not changed in recent times. In many cases, they now want at least one to two years of intern experience for an entry level job in the aerospace industry. Furthermore, it is common to have massive layoffs every 8 to 10 years across many companies in this industry, which I’m fortunate to not have experienced.

Despite all of this instability and unpredictability, don’t be discouraged. A professor once told me that you should take a job because you love the work, not necessarily because of how stable it is at the time. This is because employers can tell when your heart may not be fully in it for the love of the work, which will impact your job stability more than your talent. Therefore, pursue what you love, and do it wholeheartedly.

What are some things you like about your job?

There are definitely amazing things about my job that I enjoy. For instance, I’m sort of a “unicorn engineer,” which is a cooler way of saying that I’m an engineer with enough experience and expertise to work anywhere. Because I’m familiar with all the parts in the product life cycle, I can work in areas like manufacturing, design, or testing and use my knowledge to innovate and accelerate progress. Also, because of my seniority and years of experience, I can mentor junior engineers, which are always exciting opportunities I look forward to!

Another aspect of my job I enjoy is being able to bring a collaborative and open approach to leading projects. My leadership approach is not exclusively delegating work, but a mix of leading and listening. There is a tendency for leaders to dictate how projects should be, but I personally believe all team members should have a voice in projects. Everyone is working together to problem solve rather than completing what someone dictates, which makes the experience more enjoyable for everyone involved.

What future goals do you have?

A career goal I have is to always try out new experiences and learn new things. Being curious has given me a better understanding of my identity, boundaries, and preferences. For instance, five years ago, I was in a dilemma of choosing to advance into becoming a lead engineer or advance into becoming an engineer manager. In my current Level 4 of engineering at Boeing, people rarely advance to this level because it requires years of experience, company level influence, and executive management support. Since my level upgrade was stalled, I accepted the opportunity to do a temporary assignment as an engineering manager.

Turns out, I didn’t really enjoy being in this management position because it wasn't centered around employee development and it was more about running the business. While this experience didn’t end with being enthusiastic about it, I discovered by trying out new things what my preferences are. What I learned about myself and my work through this experience also encouraged me to become more involved with my union. Subsequently, I began pursuing opportunities in my union to help guide other people to be successful in work and their careers: how to find the right career path, how to advance in a career, how to deal with a difficult boss, and more. Being involved with my union allowed me to assist with employee development outside of my small workgroup.

Now as the vice president for my union, I want to continue following the other part of my career goal, which is learning new things. I’m so excited to learn all about what it takes to be a good union officer and to bring support to workers.

If you could describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

I would describe myself as compassionate, ethical, and headstrong, which also means determined or resilient. This is because these are the characteristics of servant leadership. This type of leadership leads without glory and is humble, kind, and honest. Leading like this is essential to having people who enjoy working with or for you. It also leaves a positive impression on others and results in many people looking up to you and wanting to stay connected. This concept in Hawaii Is also called “Living Pono” or living in harmony with one's self, community and the earth that sustains us.

What motivated you to join SPIN Girls?

I’m always looking for opportunities to help women in their journey into STEM or even deciding if STEM is for them. Although it is less common now, when I was in school during the early 2000s, there were negative stereotypes about women who pursue STEM. There were some people who made unnecessary comments like “you got your job because you're a woman” or “women who are smart aren’t attractive.” Having more representation of women in STEM allows us to have the power to overcome those stereotypes and find our community of allies and champions.

This is why I joined SPIN Girls: I want to contribute towards being a role model that students can look up to. When students see people who look like them do work that is not traditional or expected of them, it inspires students and gives them the strength to ignore negative stereotypes or comments discouraging them from pursuing that work. Therefore, exposure to diverse representation is important so that students believe nothing should hold them back from pursuing something they want to.

What are you most looking forward to this year in SPIN Girls?

I’m excited to see students’ capstone projects! I’m always amazed by the amount of creativity and artistic abilities students bring to their projects despite how technical it may be. In addition, I’m looking forward to watching students grow in confidence and into successful leaders as I’ve seen with the current 11th grade SPIN Fellows.

What advice would you give to current SPIN Girls students?

Don't be afraid of being yourself and having a brand that is different from the others around you. Many successes you could potentially achieve can only be unlocked if you embrace yourself, including your differences and uniqueness. In addition, I highly encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities to network with others, such as with mentors, cohort leads, and other SPIN staff plus professionals you meet through field days. Even if you find out you do not like STEM, these connections, especially SPIN mentors, can remain helpful guides and resources. Furthermore, SPIN and its people are a community that you can rely on. There might be a tendency to feel isolated or alone, but use SPIN to express your feelings and talk through issues. We, mentors, are here to support you to succeed, be happy, and learn!