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Contact info: Lucie deLaBruere
(802) 557 0013
Contact info: Betsy Calhoun
(802) 754-2500 x216
Techavvy Girls provides summer camps and after school activities aimed at increasing the participating of girls in high-tech activities and enrolling in high tech courses at Vermont schools, Technical Centers, and colleges. Current research shows that the ratio of girls to boys participating in these areas is 1 girl for every 10 boys. The gap is even wider in the engineering type courses and careers. This year marked the 20th consecutive year that Lake Region Union High School and North Country Career Center have hosted a Tech Savvy Girl Summer Camp in Northeastern Vermont. Each summer we provide exciting emerging technology workshops in an environment that is designed around proven strategies for engaging girls with technology. Over the years we have introduced the girls to computer programming and robotics featuring Scratch, Lego WeDo, and Lego Mindstorm, video production, circuits, microprocessors, soldering, 3D printing, vinyl cutting, laser cutting, and more. The program is also designed to introduce middle schools girls to role models which include women with high-tech careers, high school and college girls who pursuing their interest in technology, and Tech Savvy Girls Alumni. This models provides an opportunity for girls to stay develop leadership skills and connected with each other and like minded girls beyond their middle school years. The camp also includes junior counselors who had previously attended Tech Savvy Summer Camp.
We have several indicators that TechSavvy Girls Summer Camp impacts student learning. We create a skills chart that log over technical skills of our campers on Day 1 and Day 5 of the camp. Students self-assess daily on a scale 0 (Don’t know it yet) to 5 (Mastered it). Additionally, the girls create an electronic portfolio where they document their learning each day through an online journal and build a website around their new skills. Not only do these websites provide us with ample evidence of growth, but they also teach the girls the process of creating a portfolio of skills. The older girls model for the younger girls by providing stories and examples of how they have grown their own portfolio of the years and have used it to apply for jobs and college. We also administer a survey to the campers and their parents. Probably one of the most exciting testimonies of our success is the number of girls who come back each year to attend camp or come back to become volunteers. This year 75% of the campers were returning campers. 93% of the girls stated they would recommend the camp to someone else; 93% would be interested in participating in more Tech Savvy Activities and 86% expressed interest in becoming junior leaders.
84% parents surveyed rated the camp quality Excellent and 16% rated it Good. The camp also provides parent education in Internet Safety and how to support and encourage girls to participate in high tech careers and courses.
Another way we empower campers is by having them create multi-media projects using creativity tools to tell their story. Having pictures and cameras in the girls’ hands throughout the week has always been one of our success strategies. The high tech activities throughout the week provides them with good content (themselves learning new tech skills) to film and photograph. Using the tools to create digital stories of girls using technology reinforces the message that ‘girls can and should be’ in the picture of a tech-savvy society. This strategy helps counter the images they might encounter in real life such as computer classes that are 90% male as they walk through school; boys huddled around robotics or computer centers in their classroom; or career role models that reinforce gender stereotypes that technology is a guy’s world. During the week, the girls tell a different story – a story where they are in the picture of a high tech world. .
The Techsavvy Girls Summer Camp can and has been replicated since its inception in 2000. The success of the program requires an enthusiastic adult or adults dedicated to learning about strategies that engage girls with technology. Interested adults work with veteran Tech Savvy Girls staff to learn successful strategies either by attending an existing summer camp or inviting experienced Tech Savvy Girls veterans to mentor them in the development of their own camp. Success requires support from the school in the form of in kind donations such as “space” in the building to hold the event, use of computer or other technology tools in the building. Most activities are built around free or open source tools so that the girls can continue to use their new skills after camp is over. Often these girls become student technology leaders in their own school or classroom. The adults involved in Tech Savvy Girls have created a strong network and share ‘specialized’ tools such as robots or maker tools with each other to keep the cost at a minimum.
If you are interested in joining this network, please contact
Contact info: Lucie deLaBruere
(802) 557 0013
Contact info: Betsy Calhoun
(802) 754-2500 x216
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