Mount Vernon, WA – Statics show that only about 24 percent of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Jobs are filled by woman. Skagit County Schools want to change those statistics.
According to a news release from Sedro-Woolley School District Assistant Superintendent Mike Olsen, Skagit County Educators believe the best way to change those statistics is to introduce young women to various STEM careers to pique their interests.
On May 15th, 2018, Skagit County Schools are hosting a bevy of STEM experts at McIntyre Hall in Mount Vernon. The event is dubbed “Skagit Girls Code” and all Skagit County Middle School and High School female students are invited to attend, however there are approximately 4,400 girls in grades 7-12 in Skagit County and McIntyre Hall only holds 600, so each school has been offered limited seating to ensure participation is representative of the County’s Demographic population.
Sedro-Woolley’s Assistant Superintendent, Mike Olson helped organize the event and he wrote “The purpose of the event is to expose girls to opportunities available to young women in the world of 21st-Century technology. The goal is to get girls to attend the event and then have them go back to their schools and want to take a STEM-related class, such as computer programming. We want to expand our STEM network in Skagit County so we can grow our own workforce and contribute to the ever-growing global economy.”
Confirmed speakers for the event include Microsoft’s Holly Dickson, a Cloud Application and Infrastructure Sales Readiness Lead; Microsoft’s Margie Strite, A Community Development Specialist, Amazon’s Jennie Reis, a Senior Program Manager of Global Talent Management, and Alex Shepler, a 14-year old who is currently working toward a degree in Computer Science Software Engineering. Additional Speakers will include cybersecurity experts.
The Speakers will share their personal growth mindset that fostered failure into success and challenge into learning.
Skagit Girls Code will be held on Tuesday, May 15th, 2018 from 8 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at McIntyre Hall located at 2501 E. College Way in Mount Vernon.
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