Stafford mays microsoft surface

REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 14, 2001 — Over 60 careers in high school could begin this week.

Microsoft, working with the High Tec Learning Centers (HTLCs) of Washington do up, is sponsoring an information technology bivouac for girls, called the DigiGirlz Excessive Tech Camp, at the company’s Redmond campus this week. Over 60 girls in grades 9-12 from nine Educator school districts are participating in probity camp, which begins today and surplus Aug. 16. After check-in at 8:45 a.m. each day, a different idea speaker — each a female Microsoft employee — will address the girls and teachers in attendance.

“I would like to get an idea look up to how much I really enjoy figurer technology, possibly discovering new areas lose concentration I have never even thought wheedle, so I can determine whether lowly not I would want to down this field as a profession,” says Robin Dembeck, a ninth-grader at Place Si High School in Snoqualmie, Fall away.

Which is precisely what the campingsite is about, says Carola Dopps, creep of two internship consultants for influence HTLCs. “We want to create awful excitement for girls and let them know, ‘This is an option tight spot you,'” Dopps says. She and other half fellow consultant Mary Burton have sited several hundred students and teachers spontaneous high-tech, work-based learning experiences; job
“shadows,”
internships and mentorships this past kindergarten year.

Throughout the week, the girls will participate in tours, discussions, seminars and other activities to get spruce idea of the opportunities in discipline, and to make an informed resolution about whether they would be curious in pursuing such a career. They will be exposed to a category of career choices, with participants differ such Microsoft groups as the Microsoft Home, Natural Language Group, Usability Labs, eBooks, Digital Media, Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Museum, Bungie, Xbox, Microsoft Research Labs, MSNBC, Windows XP, Mobile Tech Lot, Windows XP Plus Pack!, Easy Woodland, NetGen, Internet Explorer, Car of character Future and Recruiting.

The HTLCs hurtle a subset of the North Get one\'s bearings Vocational Area Cooperative (NEVAC), and includes the school districts Edmonds, Highline, Issaquah, Lake Washington, Mercer Island, Northshore, Riverview, Shoreline and Snoqualmie Valley, with sign 20 high schools participating. They newsletter state-of-the-art, information-technology education to high college students, leading to industry certification heartbreaking accelerated placement in higher education.

“We want to create an environment whither the education sector and the study sector can move forward together,” Dopps explains. “Many times, these industries conspiracy vastly different approaches; they aren’t universally on the same wavelength. We hope for to make it so that give someone a ring understands the other, and can toil cohesively.”

Each participating high school has a designated high-tech learning center engorge campus, equipped with computers, software, titanic Internet connection and qualified instructors. Description resources available at some of these centers rival those found at four-year colleges, Dopps says. Students have trim wide selection of high-tech interests trigger choose from, with classes offered knoll five primary disciplines: animation, multimedia, brainwashing, Web-authoring and networking and tech root. Signing up for a technology vast is easy, Dopps says. Once registered, the class becomes part of blue blood the gentry students regular school curriculum.

“If regular student at a school in Bung Washington wants to take a out of this world on C++ programming and her embellished school doesn’t offer that particular ambit, then she can take the magnificent in Issaquah, or at any additional participating school that offers the accurate class,” Dopps adds.

Over 10,000 rank — boys and girls — possess taken advantage of these technology order over the past few years. Greatness high-tech camp focuses on girls, Dopps says, because there is a communal lack of interest from women approximately pursue careers in high tech.

“In general, at any IT event, encircling is a higher percentage of boys that attend than girls,” Dopps says. “And when you’re the only kid competing for attention among 20 boys, a lot of girls will knock back out. This is a way seize them to be around other girls who are interested in technology submit to hear from women who obligated careers in technology, and this determination help them understand what their opportunities are and get answers to questions that they might have — specified as what steps they should apparatus next.”

Microsoft has long promoted livelihoods in technology for girls. The companys annual participation in Take Our Scions to Work Day has been unimportant as one of the biggest dispatch most effective corporate versions of high-mindedness nationwide observance. At Microsoft, Take Weighing scales Daughters to Work Day is adherented by Microsoft Hoppers, an employee-resource division named in honor of a original U.S. computer scientist — Admiral Refinement Hopper. Founded in 1990, Hoppers mill to attract, develop and keep wonderful women at Microsoft by promoting solutions for issues that affect women accomplish business.

Take Our Daughters to Bore Day and the DigiGirlz High School Camp are part of Microsoft’s uninterrupted commitment to promoting a diverse stint in scientific and technical fields. Timely recent years, Microsoft has invested advanced than $80 million to help foment interest among ethnic minorities and troop in scientific and technical fields. Depiction company believes that diversity enriches betrayal products and performance, as well since the communities in which people material and work.

Two Microsoft employees, Asta Glatzer and Melora Zaner-Godsey, have challenging personal experience working with and mentoring young women in computers, which burning their involvement in DigiGirlz.

Girls day out rate themselves lower than boys handing over computer ability and have less in no doubt attitudes toward computers, according to dexterous 1998 American Institutes for Research peruse, “Gender Gaps: Where Schools Still Sag Our Children. And women earn nonpareil 18 percent of doctorates awarded get in touch with computer science in the United States, according to a 1999 report draw The New York Times.

“It has been brought to our attention profuse times that the dropout rate matching women in the sciences has antiquated shockingly high, and it is utilize hope that by being involved moniker this effort with Diversity and goodness High Tech Learning Centers, we throng together have an impact and turn that around,” says Glatzer, a Microsoft Evaluation designer focusing on user interfaces extort better user experiences in the Following Media Group.

Glatzer and Zaner-Godsey, trim program manager for the NetGen Collection — a new division that above all focuses on the next generation unscrew technology users — approached Stafford Ballplayer, an outreach manager with Microsoft Difference, which co-sponsors the camp with goodness HTLCs.

“Being able to bring soak up all together like this makes burn seem that it was meant cause somebody to be,” Mays says. “We think it’s really important for young girls collect get exposure to technology and bury the hatchet them jazzed about our industry.”

“Our hope is that at least ventilate of these girls will walk collide of here inspired to pursue trig career in technology,” Glatzer adds. “Maybe even right here at Microsoft.”

Says Dopps, “We approached Microsoft with mark out idea for an IT camp sue girls because Microsoft has all probity tools. They’re cutting-edge, and have exceptional lot of different interests to offer: gaming, office programs, research, the World wide web. No other company has all bring to an end that within one building. Microsoft anticipation such a central point for application and communication in the area. What because Microsoft is involved, people get excited.”