Girl With Grit, led by founder and CEO Blythe Zemel, is a San Antonio-area nonprofit working with Education Service Center, Region 20 to bring hands-on carpentry and tool education into classrooms across Texas; Angela Votion from ESC-20 backs the effort and schools or groups can contact [email protected] to learn about curriculum kits and trainer support. The group’s Kids With Grit curriculum and grit kits offer roughly 36 hours of project-based STEM learning, and the program pairs practical skills training with mentorship to build confidence in students who might never see themselves in a makerspace. This piece walks through why the work matters, how teachers are being supported, ways the community can help, and upcoming training and camp opportunities this May and August. Blythe Zemel and Angela Votion are named throughout, and the focus is Texas classrooms and regional training partnerships.
Girl With Grit started in 2020 as a 501(c)(3) because someone needed to hand kids a hammer and a plan and say, “You can do this.” The nonprofit centers young people, especially girls, in skills-based learning so they leave workshops feeling competent instead of intimidated. Programs mix tool instruction, safety practices, and mentorship so students finish projects and leave with something tangible and a sense that they belong in hands-on spaces.
Blythe Zemel says what she hopes students and educators walk away with is “Mindset.” She remembers watching a “gender divide” unfold in a welding class where boys arrived loud and eager while some girls looked frozen with fear. Her point is simple: the gap was not about talent but about what feels normal; when hands-on learning becomes routine in schools, more kids will try, fail, and grow without the stigma or surprise that these spaces aren’t for them.
“What I want is skills-based learning and project-based learning, such as tool education, to be a norm in our classrooms just like worksheets, so that the paradigm shifts and every child has an opportunity to grow their aptitudes and learn practical skills to help them grow in life and in mindset,” Blythe said. That mission underpins the Kids With Grit curriculum: modular lessons, safety training, and projects that teach spatial reasoning, tool use, and problem-solving over roughly 36 hours of guided activity.
The partnership with Education Service Center, Region 20 (ESC-20) makes a practical difference because ESC-20 can help school districts scale training and adopt the curriculum in a way that fits teacher schedules and district priorities. ESC-20 staff are pitching in to make sure educators feel ready to run projects, manage safety gear, and translate tool work into classroom learning objectives. That support is critical; a confident teacher makes a confident classroom, and students get the space to try, mess up, and keep going.
Angela Votion, Consultant, Gifted & STEM Education at ESC-20, said she was drawn to the mission because she’s seen the problem firsthand. “Too often, girls are made to feel that spaces like workshops and labs aren’t meant for them, something I experienced as a young girl many times, but this collaborative work looks to actively change that narrative, and not just for girls but for all,” Angela said. Her emphasis is on practical kits plus teacher training so every student can discover they belong anywhere they choose to be.
Community support is straightforward and immediate. Donations cover kits, tools, PPE, and the train-the-trainer sessions that make the program sustainable in schools with limited budgets. Corporate sponsors can underwrite whole kits, which helps programs stick in a district schedule rather than be a one-off event, and individual donors can fund a single kit to put a hammer and instruction into a child’s hands.
If you want to back “real-world readiness,” this program is a clear place to start: the resources buy tools and adult mentors who can change a student’s trajectory. Schools interested in joining Team Grit can reach out to [email protected] to learn about curriculum kits and Training of Trainers support; private groups like Girl Scout troops and homeschool families can also purchase kits for their own use.
MAY events include in-person and virtual training options designed to get teachers and community leaders ready to lead. Kids With Grit Camp Trainer of Trainers sessions are scheduled for May 5 and May 12 with registration number #117930. Free virtual CALM suicide prevention community trainings take place on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on May 12, 19, and 26, while professional CALM sessions run Fridays noon to 3 p.m. on May 8, 15, 22, and 29. There is also a Women In Tools single-session workshop on May 16 for ages 16 and up, with a registration deadline of May 11.
AUGUST programming includes a three-day Learning Off Site Observation series and the Kids With Grit Camp at a local makerspace. Individual learning lab dates are Aug. 4, 5, and 6 with registration numbers #117928, #118059, and #118061 respectively, and a bundled registration for all three carries #118062. The Kid With Grit Camp runs Aug. 3–7, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Harlandale ISD Makerspace, and registration is required with limited space.
At its core, Girl With Grit aims to give youth the tools, skills, and confidence to pursue fulfilling careers in skilled trades while building leadership and resilience along the way. Education Service Center, Region 20 acts as a non-regulatory partner helping districts adopt the work so it fits into existing plans for curriculum, professional development, and student services, bringing practical, hands-on learning to more classrooms across Texas.
