STEM girls spotlighted during All-Star Game national anthem

ARLINGTON -- What’s it like to line up for the national anthem during an All-Star Game after being honored as one of the players selected to participate in the Midsummer Classic? Only the All-Stars know the answer to that question.

But what about if you’re a 10-year-old?

You could ask Annabelle Sanchez.

“Scary, but fun,” Sanchez said with a smile after coming off the field before Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Globe Life Field. “Because millions of people are watching us on TV, but like thousands of people are in the seats, too.”

Sanchez is among a group of girls from Mastercard’s Girls4Tech program. It encourages girls to pursue careers in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), and it educates them about being safe online and on social media, an incredibly important skill for today’s kids.

What have they been learning recently?

“We’ve been learning about technology,” said Maria Fernanda Ortiz, also 10 years old. “And in our last class, we talked about fraud and scams.”

The program has locations in 64 countries worldwide, but the Dallas area group was selected to join the American League and National League All-Stars as they took the field for the 94th Midsummer Classic.

Several girls had the same sentiment, verbatim, after coming off the field, where they stood along with the greatest baseball players in the world as the Canadian and American anthems were sung:

“It’s one of the best moments of my life.”

It certainly left an unforgettable impression, which is something the instructors at Girls4Tech are trying to do, along with showing girls the merits of pursuing STEM careers while avoiding the pitfalls of the digital world.