KIM CRIPPS
GEMS team members from Deer Valley Elementary were excited to meet well-known children’s musician Roger Day at the 2025 GEMS Expo. Roger Day was born and raised in Birmingham.
Statistics show girls start losing interest in math and science once they enter middle school. But this didn’t make sense with what Geri Evans was seeing in her own students.
“The girls crave it,” she said. “And it’s good for them to be able to explore something that interests them in a way they couldn’t necessarily do in the classroom. This means interest led, hands-on, in depth, just with other girls, and without competition from the boys.”
In 2014, when Geri was a teacher at Bluff Park Elementary School, she and a group of students applied for the GEMS (Girls Engaged in Math and Science) Expo hosted in partnership with the Alabama Department of Education. She was thrilled when her team was accepted and invited to attend. But, she says she was sick to learn that a fellow Bluff Park team was not selected to attend.
Geri knew Hoover was a big enough school district to be able to support its own GEMS program, so she set to work contacting the school district’s curriculum director and advocating for starting a local program. When Geri needed someone to take the lead, her principal at the time, Dil Uswatte, gave Geri her full support. Dil had participated in GEMS at the state level and knew how valuable the program is for Alabama’s girls. And Hoover’s own GEMS program was born.
KIM CRIPPS
A team from Bluff Park Elementary presents their project on nail polish durability at the 2025 GEMS Expo. The team tested several polishes to determine which one lasted the longest and which ingredients contributed to its strength.
The first year, Geri hosted 65 girls from across Hoover. Now, more than 600 girls are attending each year, including at the most recent expo in February 2026 at Spain Park High School.
February’s event drew teams from nearly every one of Hoover’s 13 elementary and middle schools. The half-day event featured an expo of science projects that were fully developed by the girls, in part with oversight from their teachers. Next the girls heard from keynote speaker, Major Chelsea R. Hatch, and concluded their day with science and math themed breakout sessions. The Huntsville Space and Rocket Center was also on sight with their planetarium.
For Geri, who is recently retired, but serves as a part-time interventionist at Greystone Elementary in addition to their work with GEMS, the best part is knowing the program is making a difference.
“We have a former GEMS student who went to college to study marketing, but it wasn’t fulfilling for her. She remembered how much she enjoyed GEMS, and that experience led her to change her major to science,” recalled Geri. “Now, she is a scientist studying cancer research.”
To learn more about how to get your student involved in the GEMS 2027 program, reach out to her teacher for more information. GEMS is currently provided at no cost to its participants thanks to the generosity of community partners US Steel and the Hoover City Schools Foundation.