App Workshop at Everett Middle School

 

11/1/19 | IGNITE Workshop and Panel at Everett Middle School | by Demetric Strong

On November 1st, Everett Middle School hosted an IGNITE Women in Tech panel in our Computer Science classroom to inspire and encourage students to participate in the various technology and engineering classes, after school programs and clubs at Everett! 21 students attended and heard an introduction to the various programs at Everett and IGNITE Worldwide. They were surprised to learn the low numbers of women in STEM! Then, students heard from a group of panelists who work in tech fields.

Thank you to Anna Podolskaya, Technical Program Manager, EasyPost and Marielle Ednalino, Founding Executive Director, HTM.elle for being open and vulnerable and sharing your story and wisdom with the girls.

 

 

The women told their stories of how they ended up where they are, including their experiences in school, college, and their careers. Girls were inspired by women’s experiences and the amazing opportunities that come with learning about computer science and technology. The students asked a lot of questions, including about the many challenges the panelists have overcome to get where they are today. It was great to have bilingual women on the panel and it was clear how much the students could relate to the panelists’ stories.

 

Following the panel, students participated in creating an app involving maps. The app was introduced as a way to help displaced communities of fires find housing in their community which many of the students related to. During the Q&A my students uncharacteristically asked many questions that took up a lot of the workshop time. Thank you to Nathan Poon from Myntor for facilitating the workshop.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to each of our panelists, for sharing their stories with the girls and making this an engaging and valuable experience for them. The stories shared and questions answered were powerful and have inspired many of the girls to be more interested in STEM and to study harder in their courses.

After attending this event:

87%

of girls/non-binary students are more interested in STEM!

71%

of girls/non-binary students want to study harder to attend college and further their education

84%

of girls/non-binary students want to continue attending IGNITE events

Here's what the students enjoyed most:

I enjoyed learning about computer science and making our own app.

I was inspired that we get to help our community and save our future.

I enjoyed being able to ask many questions during the panel.

I know how to make an app. Cool!

Lo que me gusto fue que siempre estuvo para nosotros. (I liked that it was all for us).

I learned that we can start computer science whenever; math helps.

I like the part where we made an app to help people.

It was interesting hearing their life stories.

I enjoyed when we made the app. It was my first time making an app.

I enjoyed hearing what the panel had to say as women in the computer science industry.