Chapel Hill High School's Middle School Gender Initiative
Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill, NC
Networking, web design, and a visit to Cisco Systems in Research Triangle Park were on the agenda for the 36 rising eighth-grade girls who attended Camp Techette on the Hill June 16-20. A week-long day camp for middle school girls in Chapel Hill, Camp Techette offers a window on the world of technology careers. "We want to give these young women a taste of the technology field," says the Chapel Hill High School's Networking Academy instructor, who is also a counselor at the camp.
Cisco Networking Academies are paired with local female Cisco volunteers. Together the Academy and the volunteers develop activities that are geared toward increasing female participation in technology and engineering careers.
For the first three days of the Camp Techette program, the girls rotated through sessions on networking, web design and engineering. On the fourth day the girls took the 30-minute bus ride to the Cisco campus in neighboring Research Triangle Park. The morning began with an introduction to Cisco Systems and careers in technology led by site Communications Program Manager and Software/QA Engineer. The girls enjoyed a video showing how technology will change the way they work, live, play, learn -- and shop! The Marketing Programs Manager then led the group in an interactive game where the girls re-created the Internet. The object of the game was to send "email" messages across the Internet (their conference room) via human routers, ISP's and computers, while avoiding "Spam," played by a very energetic camper. The girls also enjoyed a tour of a networking lab.
"I think the best part of the day was that, by seeing the Cisco volunteers in action, the girls seemed to 'get it' that technology isn't just sitting in front of a computer all day," says one Cisco volunteer. "There are lots of options and careers available. Also, they saw that the future of technology is touching their lives in many exciting ways."