Almost 450 school-age girls descended on The Bryce Jordan Center and the Penn State campus yesterday in the largest-ever gathering of its kind.

Although they were at the Jordan Center, these girls were not there for some entertainment.

They came to learn about the numerous career possibilities to which they can aspire as they grow older.

Yesterday morning's events at the center and throughout campus marked the Penn State's sixth annual Take Our Daughters to Work Day program run by the Commission for Women.

Take Our Daughters to Work Day is a national event started by the Ms. Foundation for Women in order to keep up the self-esteem of young girls. The Ms. Foundation's Web site about the day, www.takeourdaughterstowork.org, said that statistics show that girls lose self-confidence as they enter adolescence.

The goal of the day, which is held on a Thursday so that girls can take their new workplace knowledge back to school on Friday, is to focus on abilities and aspirations.

Michelle McDonough, a high school senior from Lock Haven, has come to the Penn State Take Our Daughters to Work Day event every year. Girls from sixth through twelfth grades can attend, so this is McDonough's last year, and she said it was her best.

"I think when you get older, you enjoy it more," she said.

During the day's activities, McDonough attended three sites on campus with her mother, who was her mentor for the day. Mentors are all members of Penn State faculty or staff and are required to go with the girls to each workshop site, mainly for safety reasons.

"These are all minor children and we need to be safety-conscious," said Chriss Schulz, conference planner.

The girls indicated their top choices of activities when they registered for the day's events.

There were 40 sites available.

"That's a really good number of sites to offer a variety of experiences," Schulz said.

Some of the most popular sites, judging by the number of people who signed up for them, were the University Creamery, the Jordan Center, the office of the university president, and the veterinary science lab.

Each site offered information on what kind of jobs are performed there, letting girls learn about more than just their parents' occupations. Many sites had hands-on activities planned.

The horticulture department let girls make corsages, and the Center for Quantitative Cell Analysis let them observe their own cheek cells.

"How many eighth-graders get to look at electron microscopes?" said Linda Feltman, a Business Analyst in the Small Business Development Center who attended with her daughter, Carrie Peters.

In addition to the sessions across campus, the girls and their mentors heard speeches from two women role models. Nittany Lions soccer forward Christie Welsh gave the day's welcome address, and State College Area School District superintendent Patricia Best spoke during the closing luncheon.

Best focused on sharing the stories of successful women as well as telling the parents and mentors in the audience to encourage their daughters to have dreams.

"Sometimes the first step to success really is believing that it is possible," she said.