photo by: Shelley Hanson

Central Elementary School students Harper Behrens, left, and Cassidy Conroy hold up their gourds’ guts after smashing them during the CTE Girls STEM Day at John Marshall High School on Tuesday.

GLEN DALE — If you thought smashing pumpkins was just a mischievous act for a late Halloween night or the name of a rock band, think again.

It’s actually science — when you open them up and identify the parts of the colorful gourds, that is. That is just what groups of fifth-grade girls got to do Tuesday at John Marshall High School. The pumpkin smashing station was one of the many CTE Girls Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Day activities hosted by the Marshall County Schools Career and Technical Education Department.

Central Elementary School students Harper Behrens and Cassidy Conroy were among 140 girls who attended the event. They learned that trying to break open a warty-looking gourd with a hammer is not as easy as it looks.

“I liked it because you got to smash the pumpkins,” Cassidy said while tearing the guts and seeds out of the shell.

“I liked it. It was kind of fun,” Harper said, adding that she enjoys science because she gets to figure out and learn new things.

Some of the other stations included making a lava lamp, working with miniature robots, engineering the longest bridge, gravity drop and more.

Heather McCord, coordinator of adult education and CTE services, said the event is usually held on or near the International Day of the Girl, which is Oct. 11 this year. The Girls STEM Day receives support from the REC Foundation and VexIQ Robots.

She hopes the event will inspire the girls to explore science-based careers in the future.

“We’re just wanting to inspire and get the girls excited about science and technology,” she said. “It definitely gives the girls a chance to do hands-on activities and to have fun with science.”