Date: February 11, 2015
Event Summary
Mount Rainier High School is now in its first year of hosting IGNITE events– a program that encourages girls to consider careers in STEM. Our most recent (2/11) IGNITE luncheon was a huge success!!
We had just over 40 girls in attendance and 4 women volunteer speakers (from companies such as Savers, Western Digital, UW Information Science PhD Program and Microsoft) who talked with the girls about careers in technology (Rhonda Bell, Marta Smith, Amanda Menking and Maria Defante). They told the girls about their lives, work, and education, and also got them thinking about how their current interests could lead to exciting, fun, and lucrative jobs in engineering and technology. A powerful message from many of the speakers was to never give up, even when you feel like you’re alone.
The students were engaged and inquisitive and MANY of them said that they are now considering careers and education in technology and STEM – but prior to the event hadn’t thought about it.
Quotes from students:
1) What did you like best about today’s event?
“I really like how everyone who presented kept it “real”, especially when speaking about how STEM was pretty much a male dominated career, but they also talked about why you should consider and the benefits.” – Emily, 9 th grade “The speakers were inspiring and motivational. Their stories made me see that STEM is doable and it’s possible for me.” – Jessica, 10th grade
2) What was the most interesting thing you learned today?
“The most interesting thing I heard is that they are they’re the only women in their offices. I thought there were more women in the field…IT surprised me.” – Christina, 10th grade
“…they were told “NO” and yet these women persisted until companies said “YES”.” -Angel, 9th grade
What’s Next? :
Mount Rainier High School is taking an all-girls field trip to Blink UX, an all women-run user experience company in downtown Seattle, on March 19 th . For next school year, MRHS plans to hold an IGNITE Luncheon in the Fall and the Spring. Event Photos: (From Left to Right: MRHS girls at the presentation, Four wonderful IGNITE guest speakers, a healthy spread for the luncheon.)
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