INSPIRING MINDS
Middle school program tries to attract girls into tech
LINCOLN – As Surraya Khorsand looked into a classroom at William M. Davies, Jr. Career and Technical High School on Friday morning, she saw the future.
Inside the room were about 25 eighth-grade girls from middle schools around the state, all learning how to develop their own smartphone app.
These girls, once they graduate high school in five years, will be the ones who’ll teach the world which direction it’ll go, Khorsand said. A licensing specialist with Microsoft and a mother of two young daughters, Khorsand says that helping to open as many doors as possible will be beneficial for the next generation, so by the time her children reach middle school, they’ll
have a refreshing outlook on the future of technology.
One hundred eighthgrade girls from 10 middle schools across Rhode Island gathered at Davies Tech on Friday to interact with Microsoft employees, invited speakers, and Davies faculty, to gain exposure to careers in business and technology via Microsoft’s “DigiGirlz” program.
This one-day event, held at many locations worldwide, gives middle school girls an look at career opportunities in technology. Friday was the first time Microsoft has brought “DigiGirlz” to Rhode Island. Davies hosted the day-long event, with support from the school’s pre-engineering program, which certifies students in the areas of electronics, soldering, software development, and robotics.
In addition to building smartphone apps, the girls on Friday created an electronic circuit, explored robotics, and learned about three-dimensional printing.
Central Falls’ Segue Institute for Learning students Migdalia Morales, Gigi Gar- cia, and Jayla Araujo were enjoying lunch on Friday after taking a brief break from the educational process. They’d already participated in classes about robotics and building a smartphone app.
“Robotics was very interesting, we learned how to control the machine,” Morales explained. “It took a little bit but I got the hang of it.”
With an interest in robotics, Morales said she’s going to consider entering the field in high school and beyond.
Garcia said she enjoyed the ability to “create and play” in order to make her robot move. “It was very interesting to see how a little bit of material can make something that big move.”
Araujo said she initially struggled with the robotics program but soon was able to get a handle on the technology on display.
“The struggles were fun, even if it was confusing,” she said.
Also during lunch, the middle-school students heard from a variety of mentors from varying levels of technology, including a senior at the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, a freshman at Brown University, an entry-level employee with FM Global, a mid-level staffer at Microsoft, and a senior computer scientist at Newport’s Navy Undersea Warfare Center.
Cumberland resident Ruth Ferland, a volunteer with Davies’ “women in technology” club and an application development manager with Microsoft, said that the day was all about offering young girls a chance to learn about roles beyond programming, encouraging them to explore the field in high school and after graduation.
“With the available services that Davies has, here we thought was a perfect partnership...” Ferland said. “One of the things we wanted to do is to bring an event to Rhode Island. When (Microsoft) reached out and wanted to host it at a school … To have this event hosted here is a great opportunity for our kids.”
Chris Reno, an account executive with Microsoft, said that as a father of three daughters and as a graduate with a computer science degree, he was impressed with the convergence of two fields very near to his heart.
“A long time ago, things were dramatically different,” Reno said. “Now, they’re building a smartphone app in simple point and click ways … I’d love to see my daughters do this.”
Anissa Battaglino, Microsoft’s northeast region community engagement manager, said the day was all about giving these girls “a look into the future. A lot of roles have not even been created yet. I see potential engineers out there.”
“We’re allowing younger girls now, middle school programming, because that’s where we feel they’re most inspired,” Battaglino added.