We had a fabulous field trip yesterday to Microsoft with the young women from West Seattle and Garfield HS. They had such a great time and left feeling inspired and elated about their day at Microsoft.
I want to thank Claire O’Donnell for making this day possible. Claire makes sure everything is perfect for us every time. And thank you to Brooke Lowry, for providing the support behind the scenes. We appreciate you both so much.
Three wonderful teachers were the chaperones, Sarah Orton and Kaci Salnick from West Seattle and Earl Berquist from Garfield High School. Welcome to Kaci Salnick who is new to West Seattle this year and is teaching Web Design and Marketing. And welcome to Earl Berquist who is teaching a variety of amazing computer science offerings. These are the finest teachers and run exemplary programs in these schools. Thank you all for the amazing work you do with students everyday. Also, thank you to a wonderful chaperone for Garfield HS, Fran Presley.
The girls were given tours at the Home of the Future and the Envisioning Lab. Thank you to the wonderful tour leaders who always do such an outstanding job for our kids. Jackie Giuliano, Home tour and Tiffany Dedeaux, Envisioning Lab tour. Thank you for giving such an inspiring experience and the girls were glowing after these tours. Now they want to come to Microsoft and create that technology.
After the tour we then had lunch with amazing women who work in all different areas of Microsoft. They did such a great job connecting with the girls and really were passionate about inspiring them. Thank you to Cheryl Platz, Nora Micheva, Layla Driscoll, Reham Abdelshahid, Patricia Wagner, and Lilia Gutnik. You are all inspirational women and really created a profound and illuminating experience for the girls. We are all so fortunate to have met you.
Here are the comments from the girls survey forms. They always say it best.
- I liked the Envisioning Lab, where they showed us the intriguing projects they were working on. I like learning about the many different backgrounds of the women who work at Microsoft. And that they all didn’t start out in science.
- I loved the Envisioning Lab. It inspired me to hear about the different backgrounds of all of the women who spoke, and how they ended up where they are now.
- I had an amazing time listening to the Microsoft employees, and I saw a double faced cell phone.
- I loved the panel of women.The tips they gave on how to get somewhere in life gave me a new perspective. And I loved the House of the Future.
- I liked everything. And for some of these women it’s not about the money.
- I loved everything, especially the lunch when we got to hear from the women in technology and their advice about what Microsoft looks for in applicants.
- I loved the tour of the Home of the Future. It showed how things can evolve and it’s amazing how cheap the technology can be. Most of the women who spoke had totally different goals then working here but then they got here and totally love it. They do all different things it seems so fun and they all enjoy it.
- I liked the Home of the Future and I want that room! It’s so cool that these can become common household items because of mass production. So people that never dream of such things can afford them.
- I had a lot of fun, The event I liked the most was the Envisioning Lab. It had so much information about how things will change.
- I liked the video in the Envisioning Lab and the idea of contact lenses that could make phone calls. It was all interesting, the food was great and I liked seeing all the things that may happen in the future.
- I liked hearing how each of the speakers ended up here at Microsoft. I liked the tour because I get to see things which makes it more real than just hearing about it.
- I liked seeing the room of the Future and thinking how convenient my daughters life could be when she is my age. I liked hearing Rehan talk about taking advantage of programs that are available to us.
- I liked how the bedroom was custom fit to you. And it changes to match your mood. And these things could be common and cheap in 10-15 years.
- The House of the Future was really mind blowing. And the technology I saw there will be available in a few years. It looked like there are some really fun careers at Microsoft.
- I realized that new technology gets created everyday. And all of the women who spoke had very different paths, but it led them to the same place.
- The house of the Future is amazing. And we will be able to see things like that in our life time. Since everything now uses computers and people to program them you can change your job often without changing your career in tech.
- The smart house can help you make better food choices and improve your lifestyle and a lot of the future technologies will be affordable for everyone.
Thank you everyone for making this day so special.
Cathi Rodgveller M.S. Ed.
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