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Tech-Girl Monthly: January 2015

A Year in Review

 
2014 was an amazing year for Tech-Girls. It was packed with wonderful memories and noteworthy accomplishments: 
  • We provided in-depth, hands-on technology learning opportunities to well over 300 girls in and around Charlottesville.
    • Over 150 elementary school girls got hands-on with tech during the Girls’ Geek Days. This program has also grown from one session in 2012/13 school year to 6 sessions all around Albemarle county this school year. 
    • Over 100 middle school girls participated in before, during & after school Tech-Girls & affiliated programs (GREAT & GEMS) at Computers4Kids, Jouett, Henley, Sutherland & Village School.
    • Over 25 high school girls provided mentoring at Girls' Geek Days and/or participated in Bio-Med Tech-Girls.
    • Over 25 girls participated in CoderDojo Girls: The Maker Party.
  • Lots of positive press for Tech-Girls including:
  • Tech-Girls helped launch the Charlottesville Women in Tech Meetups.
  • We also went on the road to share our mission and creations at the National Coalition of Girls' Schools Conference, USA Science & Engineering Festival, Brainstorm 2014 - VSTE, St. Catherine's School, Charlottesville Mini-Maker Faire, Mozilla Festival, Microsoft Ireland & VSTE Annual Conference.

Partners, Supporters & Collaborators!


Tech-Girls would not be possible without the support and ongoing commitment of organizations & individuals who also seek to address gender equity in computing and expand the STEM job preparedness pipeline:
  • Computers4Kids, Albemarle County Public Schools, Jefferson Madison Regional Library, UVA Department of Biomedical Engineering and Village School provided space, technology and funds to run a variety of workshops, clubs & meetups. 
  • Thanks to a mini-grant from the Mid-Atlantic Girls Collaborative Project - Tech-Girls @ C4K got hands-on and creative with Hummingbird robotics and littleBits electronics.
  • Bio-Med Tech-Girls was made possible by the generous support from LightCastle Technical Consulting and the Coulter Translational Research Partnership.
  • We've had the most amazing people offer their time as volunteers, mentors, advisors and supporters including Michelle Amtmann, Leslie Benz, Caroline Bertrand, Megan Bird, Abby Brock, Kimberly Bryant, Tim Carrier, Pooja Chandrashekar, David Chen, Courtney Christensen, Joanne Cohoon, Krysta Cox, Angela Critics, Catherine Cronin, Michelle Ehrich, Yolanda Epps, Michele Estes, Darya Evans, Emilia Dell, Selena Feng, Becky Fisher, Lisa Foreman, Tamara Funk, Anne Geraty, Teresa Goodin, Monika Grabowska, Tracey Greene, Tom Herrick, Michelle Hilgart, Laura Hilliger, Stephen Howell, Steve Hunter, Vanessa Hurst, Spencer Ingram, Kayla Johnson, Dolly Joseph, Stella Kim, Eileen Krepkovich, Tom Lauwers, Anne Lewis, Gina Mancuso, Doran McBride, Diana McCollough, Kirsten Miles, Pam Moran, Megan Murphy, Michaela Tighe Mutton, Bridget Olson, Carrie Anne Philbin, Rashmi Prakash, Chad Ratliff, Theresa Richards, Karen Richardson, Kathy Richardson, Meg Richey, Rose Robinson, Miriam Rushfinn, Andrew Sallans, Chad Sansing, Jen Shakeshaft, Rachel Smith, Kala Somerville, Elisabeth Von Spakovsky, Heidi Sonen, Susan Stimart, Nathan Szejniuk, Tes Tabilas, Kim Taylor, Melissa Techman, Julia Travers, Alicia Trice, Tracey Welson-Rossman, Paula White, Jennifer Whitenack.

Get Involved!

Are you ready to become a mentor or sponsor a Tech-Girl workshop? Can you help us get the word out or cater an event? However you would like to get involved, we need you! 

Notes from the Field

Submitted by Selena Feng, Program Leader
GREAT  (GiRls Excited About Technology) is a free after-school program partnered with GEMS (Girls Excited about Math and Science) at UVa that takes place at Jouett and Henley Middle Schools. During the fall/winter semester of the 2014-15 school year, we have been building and learning how to program Lego MINDSTORMS robots. The girls have also been playing with the different types of sensors and working on writing programs using the various kinds of input, e.g. sound and light.
We have also been using Spheros, ball-shaped robots controlled by a phone app that can be made to perform various challenges and actions. In addition, we have done some experiments involving other fields of science such as chemistry and physics.
(GREAT is made possible through a NCWIT AspireIT grant)

Activities & Events

Live & Local

  • January 31 - K-12 Playing ACES CHESS Event at Keswick Hall. Registration required.
  • February 7 - Girls' Geek Day. Yancey Elementary School (9am to noon). This event is open to all ages, but if you are a 3rd grader or younger, please plan on bringing one of your parents too. Registration required & coming soon.
  • February 27-28 - CAPWIC 2015: “Computing Connects Us” at JMU. This regional Celebration of Women in Computing is a great opportunity for high school students to connect with local women in tech. Registration required, scholarships available.
  • Ongoing - Tech-Girls before & after school programs for middle school girls are in high gear. We are collaborating with GREAT/GEMS at Jouett & Henley. We've also got programs at Sutherland and Computers4Kids. Contact us for more info.
  • Ongoing - Girl Develop It Central VA. What better way to inspire your daughter, grand-daughter or niece than to learn to code yourself. Girl Develop It Central VA offers beginner classes in Charlottesville and Harrisonburg.
  • Ongoing - Tinkersmiths Makerspace hosts a wide range of workshops that are open to a variety of ages and experience levels. Check out their latest meetups.
Virtual & Global
  • January 6 - Girls in Tech Web 101: Web Design & Develop 8-week, free online course begins for girls 13-18. Registration required.
  • January 31 - Student Technology Conference is a student-directed global conversation about technology in education. This free, online event will feature keynote speakers and crowdsourced presentations by students in grades 6-12.
  • February 15 (deadline)ProjectCSGIRLS, the nation’s biggest computer science competition for middle school girls. Build something with tech that can help solve an imminent social problem.
  • February 25 (deadline) - National STEM Video Game Challenge. A game design competition for middle & high school students.
  • Ongoing - Made with Code for classes & workshops geared toward girls.
  • Upcoming - Technovation Challenge. A global technology entrepreneurship program for young women everywhere ages 10 to 23. Start recruiting your team of up to 5 girls now! Pre-registration available.
Check out the Codecrackers dance
Hear the untold stories of women in science and technology
Try out bitsbox & make your own apps
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2015 Tech-Girls, This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
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