Wilcox High School, Santa Clara, CA
Launch Event
The launch event was held in April and attended by school administrators, Cisco managers, school District and Board of Education personnel, Regional Academy instructors, and Networking Academy program female students. Marianne Siemietkowski Needham, Cisco Learning Institute Manager, Tina Franklin, Cisco Area Academy Manager, and Heather Lange, Wilcox Academy instructor, facilitated the event.
Honors Class Presentation
On April 1st, Marianne Siemietkowski Needham delivered a Gender Equal Access in Technology presentation to approximately 80 girls from Honors History, Science, Math & English classes. After a showing of the I am an Engineer Video, there was a sign-up sheet for those who were interested in more information about the program at Wilcox High School.
Two-Week Gender Marketing Campaign
During a two-week marketing campaign, Heather Lange developed an "Attention Girls" flyer. The flyer was posted throughout the school and distributed to 10th grade teachers who announced the initiative during their classes. In addition, the Cisco gender posters were strategically placed in the school, and special invitations were circulated to girls to drop by the Lab, get more information & sign up for the Cisco Networking Academy class.
Pizza Lunch
On May 14th Heather Lange organized a Pizza Lunch for approximately 30 female students. Christine Hemrick, Cisco Vice President and Martha Garriock, Cisco Software Engineer featured in the I am an Engineer video, spoke about careers in technology and their own experiences.
Wilcox has seen an increase in its fall enrollment and attributes much of this to the presentation to the 80 prospective female students in early April and to the personal invitations extended by faculty.