iD Tech Camps Awards Scholarship to Promote Girls' Participation in Technology
A crusade that started with Katie Goldman is being picked up by iD Tech Camps. 7-year-old Katie was teased for carrying a Star Wars water bottle – something that was “only for boys.” Her story quickly went viral, and supporters from every corner of the web chimed in to let her know that she was not alone. In her honor, iD Tech Camps has created a Girls in Technology scholarship to encourage girls to pursue anything that they love – be it Star Wars or technology – and to dispel the myth that certain things are “only for boys.”
iD Tech Camps is a summer youth technology program that offers courses in game design, iPhone® app development, web design, programming, filmmaking, robotics and other subjects. Students learn in small classes (average size 6, maximum 8 students) during weeklong sessions at 60 prestigious universities nationwide. At the end of each week, students put their tech skills to the test by completing a challenging final project.
But the final project is just the beginning – iD students take what they’ve learned back into the real world and keep building on their skills. Katherine, for instance, is an inspirational camper who learned animation with Maya® at one of iD’s Los Angeles summer camps held at UCLA, and went on to win 1st place, place and “Best of Show” at a statewide film festival. With the Girls in Technology scholarship, iD Tech Camps aims to produce more role models like Katherine who show that girls and technology are a winning combination.
For its 2011 summer camp season, iD Tech Camps awarded the Girls in Technology scholarship through Starlight Children’s Foundation™ to Anna Kimmel, 13, of Eagan, MN. She is an impressive student who uses technology to break through boundaries daily. Born with arthrogryposis, Anna started using computers before she was three for adaptive speech. Now she uses a laptop at school every day, interfacing with a smart board to write and participate in all of her classes.
Anna is an example of how stereotypes, gender and otherwise, don’t hold. “Anna’s life thus far has been about fighting assumptions – just because she’s in a wheelchair, doesn’t mean she isn’t extremely smart and capable,” says Anna’s mother. “And technology comes intuitively to her – she’ll get a new computer and just figure it out. She teaches me how to do things on my iPhone. She loves technology and explores it every way she can.”
Pete Ingram-Cauchi, CEO of iD Tech Camps, seconds Anna’s mother. “Part of iD Tech Camps’ mission is to make sure that everyone understands that tech camp is a creative, vibrant environment. Girls don’t feel bored or excluded, they learn cool skills that are very necessary in today’s high-tech world.”
If iD Tech Camps has anything to do with it, the force will be with Katie – the force of a tech-savvy generation of girls.
ABOUT STARLIGHT CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION
When a child or teenager has a serious medical condition, everyone in the family is affected. For more than 25 years, Starlight Children’s Foundation™ has been dedicated to helping seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities. Starlight’s programs have been proven to distract children from their pain, help them better understand and manage their illnesses, and connect families facing similar challenges so that no one feels alone. Through a network of chapters and offices, Starlight provides ongoing support to children, parents and siblings in all U.S. states and Canadian provinces with an array of outpatient, hospital-based and Web offerings. Programs are also delivered internationally through affiliates in Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom. To learn more visit www.starlight.org.
February 28th, 2011 | Tags: girls in STEM, scholarships, STEM education, video game design
Posted in: iD Tech Camps
