We had such a fabulous field trip yesterday to Microsoft. The girls were wonderful, excited and asked such great questions. First we went to the Home of the Future. The girls were so impressed. Then we had lunch and discussion with an amazing group of Microsoft women.
First, I want to thank Brooke Schnyder and Claire O’Donnell for making these field trips happen. They put a lot into setting them up and making lists of all the women who want to attend. It’s a lot of work behind the scenes. A big thank you to you both!
Thank you to Jackie Guiliano, our tour leader for the Home of the Future. He does such a great job making the girls feel welcome and helping them understand all they are seeing. He cares so much that they use their imaginations to see how many possibilities technology can create for our lives. He cares so much about making this experience wonderful. Thank you Jackie for all you do. A big thank you to Angie Burness who sets up the tours for us!
I want to thank the amazing women who attended the lunch and panel presentation! You are all such dynamic and dedicated women who care a great deal that the girls get that connection and understanding about what these careers are all about. Not only that, but you care also that the girls really get the confidence and knowledge that they can do it by dedication and hard work. It’s such a great message delivered by women who care, and the girls know it.
Thank you to LIlia Gutnik, someone who entertains and inspires all of us! She is amazing and a force of nature. I hope you all get to experience seeing her talk to the girls, it’s such great fun and amazing to see.
Thank you to all of you amazing women, Deborah Seres, Senior Project Manager, Gloria Veal, Program Manager, Claire Megathlea, Manager, Solution Management, Flora Goldwaite, Sr. Program Manager, Setheni Kirschnick, Workshop Manager, and a big thank you to Betsy Norton-MIddaugh who has not missed a Microsoft event in 10 years and was our tour leader for the day! You are all wonderful, awesome and we cannot thank you enough for the time you spent with the girls!
A big thank you to the extraordinary teachers that lead the IGNITE chapters at their schools. Thank you to Kelly Clark, who is also an Engineer. She is the Project Lead the Way teacher at Cleveland. That is a pre-engineering curriculum. Cleveland is now a STEM school and we are so fortunate to have Kelly in the classroom. As an engineer she has made a choice to be in the classroom working with students. A big thank you to Pete Bawden, Project Lead the Way teacher at Franklin and Barb Lynch Cisco teacher at Franklin, Both teachers are dedicated leaders in IGNITE for many years now. Thank you for all you do. We could not do this work without you. Thank you to the ESL teacher, Kwan Cheung for inviting ESL students to participate!
Now we can read the comments from the girls survey sheets, to see what they said about the day.
- I enjoyed the Home and seeing future technology very much and I would say my favorite part was the women who talked to us was the best. What they had to say was very informational and interesting! Thank you 🙂
- I learned that as long as we are alive, we can always choose to do something different. I thought this day was awesome:)
- I really enjoyed the house exhibit. It was very interesting. Another thing I liked very much was when Lilia talked. She made me actually very interested in this type of field. I also enjoyed hearing the women’s stories and how they got started.
- I loved visiting the home of the future. It was amazing and listening to all the women talk about how they got to where they are now and how much they enjoy their job. I learned about the amount of money they can make after just a few years on the job. I think this is great, no improvement needed. I look forward to learning more and seeing where the women work when I do a job shadow.
- I meet other people that did different things and how people got to their jobs, even though they had childhood difficulties .
- I truly enjoyed it and would love to come back. I hope to see you @ digi-girlz. 🙂
- I loved hearing the women’s life stories. It was all great.
- I loved the guest speakers and also meeting Lilia. Lilia’s presentation was amazing. I want to try more IGNITE activities.
- I liked how the speakers came in telling their stories about their careers and lives. I also liked the tour around the home.
- The most interesting thing I learned was that the speakers didn’t know what they wanted to do and become and ended up working at Microsoft making tons of money. I look forward to seeing more about what the workers do when at work.
- What I liked best was when we got to see the future home. I like what technology would be in the future. I liked learning about IGNITE and what kinds of activities we will do.
- I really loved seeing the tour of the home project. It was really cool to see technology around the home. I also really liked hearing the stories from the women. I liked that they have jobs they really like and enjoy. The most important thing I learned was to work hard to be smarter. I want to go to Digigirlz summer camp.
- Today I liked the employees that came in to talk about their jobs. It got me more interested in technology and learning more about jobs at Microsoft. I got a lot of ideas too.
- I liked the tour of the future and I also liked the Presentations. Many of the women came from not knowing what they wanted to do, but then they discover technology and now they love their careers at Microsoft.
- I liked that they showed us ways that we can change our future. Not only that, also that some of the speakers showed us opportunities and to take advantage of them. I learned that we have a lot of opportunities at such a young age. I want to do a job shadow and summer activities.
- I liked it when Lilia talked about her experiences on getting the job she likes and getting paid a lot. How Lilia ended up finding the right job for her.
- I enjoyed touring the future home and also loved the women’s presentations. Many of the women did not know what they wanted to do or what they wanted to major in .
- The computer science career sounds so interesting. I enjoyed this whole event and the speakers made me motivated.
- I learned that there are so many great things about these careers. And I can travel too.
- The part that I liked the most about today’s event is the house of the future and meeting engineers, computer scientists, and aerospace engineers. I liked how we learned so much and got to see the future.
- I loved all of it, the home ! the speakers! and LIlia!
- I learned that I can create anything I like. I look forward to more IGNITE activities.
- I like everybody’s presentations, but I really enjoyed the “shop girls” presentation. It made me want to be in computer science. I liked how everyone was interactive.
- I loved the home of the future and the women speakers. I learned a lot about technical careers. I look forward to more things.
- I liked MS home so much .I think MS home is very interesting. IGNITE gives me a chance to talk to women in the high tech field.
- I learned a lot about the different careers and how they all started out. The women really inspired me and made me want to learn more about technology careers
- I learned a lot about how everybody is like us and how they built their way up. I learned a lot about the future technology and how everything will cost less and people can have what they want. I also learned how to get a career in technology and at Microsoft. I would like to do more things like this.
- I loved the home. Talking with the women was great too.
- I really enjoyed touring the future home. I thought that the technology was really great. I learned about the Digigirlz program and really want to do that. I thought this event was fun and perfect just the way it was. I look forward to more Ignite activities.
- I liked the MS home very much. I hope I will have my own house like this one. IGNITE really helped me learn about technology education for my future
- I liked the home tour. It was very different and exciting to find out new technology and what it will be like.
- All the ladies had challenges but still have great careers.
- I liked the speakers because they were very informative. One of the speakers was very funny. I could relate to many of them. I learned that many women do like engineering and technology. I never thought about it and am now considering it for my career. I thought this day was perfect. This exceeded my expectations. Thank you
- It was very informative. Each one of the women’s stories were interesting to me.
- The speakers were great. I learned how you have a goal and can reach it. I loved it all.
- I enjoyed the guest speakers because they talked about their personal journeys to get towards their careers today.
- I thought it was interesting that most of the speakers had management jobs.
- Touring the future home and get to hear all of the women and their stories. Technology is a big part of our life now a days. I can’t wait for another IGNITE event.
- I liked hearing the women’s stories. They were very interesting. They gave us a lot of info and I liked hearing how much they enjoyed their jobs. I thought this day was great! Thank you !
Thank you so much to everyone who made this day possible.
Cathi
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