We had a really inspirational presentation yesterday at Sammamish! I was excited to see the girls that showed up for our first event, and am looking forward to the next one!! I had a number of girls ex-press their interest in attending the next one because they couldn’t make yesterday’s. There was really great discussion, and we could have been there longer, as a few of us saw the girls were eager to stick around and learn more about our programs at Sammamish that will help them continue on their path to success. The speakers were wonderful. The stories were so heartfelt, inspirational, and had great mes-sages to pass on. Each woman simply shared her own story, which is the heart of what we do in IGNITE.
To our presenters – you all opened up and shared your stories and your successes and obstacles in such a real way that we all feel truly inspired. You all also had fun and your enthusiasm was contagious. It is obvious how much you all love coming in to talk to the girls. We are so fortunate to have the amaz-ing women volunteers that we have. I am looking forward to having this kind of experience again as we continue with our meetings.
I want to thank our speakers: Vazjier Rosario, a Service Engineer at Microsoft, Marta Smith, a Senior Staff Engineer in Test at Western Digital, Kendra Powers, a System Security Engineer at Boeing, and Shalini Gupta, a Senior Consultant at Microsoft. You were all exceptional speakers and really connected with the young women. It was thrilling to hear all of you and watch the girls get inspired!
Thank you to all the staff that came in and who contributed to the event – Elaine Caufield (CTE Co-ordinator), Ortansa McDonald (Career Specialist), Estelle Collins (CTE Director) and Cathi Rodgveller (IGNITE Director).
Now take a look at the comments from the girls, who always say it best!!
- I liked to get information about the careers and also personal experiences.
- I liked the stories because they were motivating to do better in school and in col-lege.
- I liked the ideas put into my mind.
- I liked that our environment was women and we were capable of asking ques-tions whenever.
These girls also commented that they learned a lot, and are looking forward to learning more about the field of technology and engineering. They are looking forward to more presentations, field trips, internships/job shadows, etc. It’s great to see them getting excited about exploring these fields further.
As I’ve already mentioned: what a fabulous experience for these girls! I want to thank everyone who contributed to our first meeting of IGNITE.
Sincerely,
Becky Quay
Chapter Coordinator
Math/Engineering Teacher
Sammamish High School