Day 57 Where the Girls Are? At VentureLab!

Here is another post in my Where the Girls Are series of posts.  Today's tour of VentureLab  was one of the highlights of our travels through San Antonio as part of our Living Learning Mobile Journey.   When I discovered VentureLab, one of the things that caught my attention right away was the 60% female participation statistic on the front page of their web site.

we're making a real difference

 724 students, 60% female participation,

Who are these people that are having such great results getting young women involved in high tech ventures?  I immediately started clicking around their website and discovered that not only are 60% of their student participants female,   but over 60% of their team are women -- SMART women!

And one of these women is their founder, Cristal Glangchai, PhD in BioMedical Engineering.   

Cristal is a scientist, professor,  entrepreneur , and mother of two girls who is passionate about teaching girls to become leaders in technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Spend two minutes with Cristal in this short video and you'll see for yourself  how the lack of women in her university program, lack of women CEOs, lack of women investors, all fueled Cristal's desire to get  more women involved in the innovation landscape.  And one of the ways she is doing that is through VentureLab  ~ an innovation academy that focuses on hands on learning and teaching youth about entrepreneurship.

VentureLab - Meet the Founder from Key Ideas on Vimeo.

But  it's not just Cristal's passion for raising the number of females who play a role in shaping the world around us that is driving the success you see at VentureLab;  it is the passion of a whole team and their belief in a shared vision. 

Click on the WHO ARE WE Link and listen to children, parents, community members, and other stakeholders join Cristal (cofounder)  and Director of Programs, Nick Honegger. passionately describe the shared vision of VentureLab.    As Dirk Elemdorf cofounder of Rackspace,  describes "this whole industry has been dominated by dudes who look exactly like me~ young white dudes."   VentureLab is filled with a team of supporters who are passionate in making changes in an industry that currently "cuts off women and people of color".  They understands that

"diversity of view gives us diversity of solution by keeping people not otherwise exposed to this stuff in the game we get a better shot of having them actually take these roles that we need to fill our future"

The shared mission of the team of VentureLab came through loud and clear as Program Director Nick Honegger, described what happens at Venture Lab during our tour of the space today.


Start YOUNG! 

VentureLab wants to start with kids as young as 5 years old!


EVERY student should  EXPERIENCE ENTREPRENEURSHIP!

Using our ESTEAM framework, we provide experiential learning in Entrepreneurship,Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics, teaching students the key mindsets of entrepreneurial thinking, design thinking, creativity, and we provide hands on instruction in technology.  [VentureLab Website]

Let's Utilize our FULL WORKFORCE!

Getting more women to participate in the STEM fields and take on entrepreneurial roles is not just about achieving gender equality; our entire country will benefit from this progress and development. To realize our full competitive and technological leadership as a nation, young women must be encouraged to achieve their full potential and receive more representation within ESTEAM-related fields. We want to ensure that our full workforce is being utilized, and that is why we strive to achieve gender parity within all of our programs.  [VentureLab Website]

Thank you, Hetali Lodaya and Nick Honegger  for taking time out of your day to show us around VentureLab today and fill us with inspiration that the world is filled with creative people doing amazing things. 

Cross posted on 

blog.livinglearningmobile.org

learningwithlucie.blogspot.com

createmakelearn.blogspot.com

Day 54: Where the Girls Are? The Google Science Fair

One of my goals in these daily blog post is to shine the spotlight on areas that have had success getting girls involved in tech related ventures.  Earlier this year I wrote a series of posts called Where the Girls  calling attention to the the success that  Carnegie Mellon and Google Computer Science Camp have had in engaging women and girls in computer science.

When I saw the announcements for the Google Science Fair this year,  one of the first things I noticed was the balanced representation of boys and girls in the finalists.  Girls can definitely see themselves in the picture browsing through the finalists of the Google Science Fair over the past few years.

There are some amazing stories of girls using their understanding of science, math, and technology amongst the project.   Amongst them are Ciara, Sophie, and Emer (tenth graders from Kinsale Community School in Ireland) who used a variety of technology to collect and analyze data that resulted some fantastic recommendations for using natural bacteria to increasing crop output while reducing fertilizer use.   It's no wonder their project was selected as a Grand Prize winners in the 2014 Google Science Fair.


The Google Science Fair is a global online science and technology competition open to individuals and teams from ages 13 to 18.  Learn more about how you can participate in this year's Google Science Fair.  The submission deadline is May 12, 2015.  

And if you're looking for inspiration, just listen to Ciara, Sophie, and Emer how they used their research to combat world hunger.

Day 51: Meet Google ambassador, Maurita Ament

Today I had the opportunity to virtually meet  Maurita Ament, a techsavvy sophomore from Spelman College who is serving as a Google student Ambassador and helping to spread the news that GIRLS can and should code.

 

I was struck by Maria's description of desire to help others in her school and beyond.   Her personal experience has shown her that a variety of technology skills are key to success. 

 "I believe that if you know how to code, do graphic design, or effectively use a computer to gain knowledge, you can do anything your heart desires. "

The story that Maurita shared about she got involved with technology confirmed for me that many girls become engaged with technology's power to connect us.   She went from playing with NEOPETS,  connecting with other NeoPet owners through guilds, to MAKING her own guilds,  to  learning to code and learning other tech skills to  to MAKE her guild even better.   Now that is what I call a fantastic story of success of one of the many ways to get girls involved with technology.   

"I spent a lot of time on the computer playing games like Neopets when I lived there. On Neopets, users connected with each other through “Guilds”. After joining a few of them I realized I wanted to make my own. However, once I made them, no one would join. I started browsing through multiple guilds to see what theirs had that mine didn’t. This was how I discovered HTML/CSS, Adobe Photoshop, and Computer Science. After teaching myself how to code and do some graphic design I was able to get over 100+ members to join my Guild."

Read more about Maurita, on Google's student blog

Day 48: Governors Institute is looking for you, TechSavvy Girls!

Are you a high school girl?
Are you passionate about technology?
Do you love math or science?
Do you like to tinker?


Then you absolutely MUST check out The Governors Institutes of Vermont this summer!

"The Governor’s Institutes of Vermont creates prestigious, fun, accelerated learning residencies on college campuses for highly-motivated Vermont teenagers. There are Governor’s Institutes focused on Arts, Engineering, Information Technology, Environmental Science and Technology, Mathematics, Asian Cultures, Current Issues and Youth Activism, and Entrepreneurship.  Any Vermont student can ask his/her school guidance counselor for referral to a Governor’s Institute for an unforgettable experience of extreme learning and extreme fun."    ~ GIV website

And if you are  a high school girl interested  in one of these Governor's Institutes

• Environmental Science
• Engineering
• Information Technology
• Mathematical Sciences Institutes 

 EPSCoR is offering additional incentive funding for high school girls  which will make it even cheaper for you to attend.




So what are you waiting for!  Look up this page to find who your school's contact person and get that application process started.  That March deadline is right around the corner.

Day 47 Rosies Girls Registration Goes Live Today

Rosie's Girls Registration Open's Today


NEW dates for 2015 in Northern Vermont!
Registration opens February 16!

Essex Junction ♦ June 22 – July 10 ♦ 9-4:30
Barre ♦ July 20 – Aug. 7 ♦ 9-4:30
We've all heard about Rosie the Riveter.. but have you heard about Rosie's Girls?   If not.. then you're in for a real treat when you learn about this amazing program that has been building confident girls for almost 15 years.   

If you know any girls entering grades 6 -8, you need to know about Rosie's girls  (a 3 week girl centered environment where girls get hands on experience with carpentry, welding, auto-repair, along with art, games, swimming and self defense. 

Check out the Vermont Works for Women website  for  current dates, locations, flyers, and everything you need to register. Registrations open today! 

Day 33 Strong female presence at Student Tech Conference

Did you miss the first online Student Tech Conference?  If so,  its not too late catch the recordings of these student lead sessions.  And unlike many tech conferences.. this conference had a pretty even split of male and female presenters.  Way to go!

Check out  the sessions you missed. Listen to the Live recordings of these student lead sessions from January 31, 2015.

9:00am

 KEYNOTE: Parth Chug & Ameera Patheria on "Plugged In: A Student Run Digital Literacy Service Club"

10:00am

 How to Use Individualized Online Coding Resources Effectively - Anne Havlik, Sophmore

10:00am

 Is Google Drive For You? - Mikaela Pozo (student), Jenny Martinez (student), Kyle Dunbar (teacher)

11:00am

 Creating Great Projects with iMovie - Julie Ngo: Student

11:00am

 Growing Entrepreneurs - Christopher Armbrust,Student

11:00am

 The Evolution of The Student Technology Conference - Tylor Johnson

12:00pm

 Physics, Social Justice, and Design - Gabby Lennon

12:00pm

 Understanding Phone Usage of 8th Grade Students - Anushya Makam

12:00pm

 Working With "Old School" and "New School" Technology: The Benefits of Both - Cheyenne Brooks & Eunice Daudu

1:00pm

 KEYNOTE: Sydney Sheren on "How to Help Your Visual Students Learn Using Movie Magic"

2:00pm

 iBooks in the Classroom - Westhampton Beach Middle School Students

2:00pm

 Mentoring Middle School Students Lego Robotics - Aaron Petzold

2:00pm

 Unconventional Tech. within a grade 6-12 School - Don Frazier

3:00pm

 Building Agent Koala - Sophia Durso

3:00pm

 High School Students - Hardware Repair - Aaron Petzold

3:00pm

 Virtual Enterprises International Program - Frank Leotta, Freesia Ferrantino, Ashley Cunniff, Alex Kravitz, and Olivia Horbatiuk

4:00pm

 KEYNOTE: Isabelle Fitzgerald & Lillian Kennedy on "Say it with Social Media"

5:00pm

 Developing Your Product Ideas While In Highschool - Daniil Frants

5:00pm

 Including me with the iPad - Jared & Rylen

5:00pm

 Understanding Logic Gates in Software Design and Development Classes - Stephen Balogh-Caristo

6:00pm

 Everyday EdTech - Rayan Rizvi

6:00pm

 How to Build and Sustain a Student Tech Team - USM House of Technology

6:00pm

 TugaSat - Telma Espírito Santo

7:00pm

 Adobe Creative Cloud Entrepreneur - Andrew Peterson

7:00pm

 Video Pen Pals: Connecting Classrooms Around the World - Henry Harboe, Co-Founder of LumenEd

8:00pm

 KEYNOTE: Dylan de Waart on "Global Buddy—Lesson From a Student Initiative to Connec

Day 30 Kicking off our first Girls Make IT Event!

WOW... all I can say is WOW!

cross posted at  http://girlsmakeit.blogspot.com

What an great day we had at the Generator MAKING together for the first Girls Make IT event sponsored by TechSavvy Girls, Vermont Works for Women and the Generator.  Thank you to Jill Dawson, Leah Joly, and Lucie deLaBruere for planning and leading inspiring workshop sessions.

Thank you to the Generator for the great space and the pizza.  Thank you to Vermont Works for Women for sponsoring the supplies.

Teams of Women and Girls from
  St. Albans City School      
  Christ the King School    
  Browns River School        
  Albert D Lawton School    
  Essex Middle School  
  Winooski Elementary School  and
  Williston Central School

left with the skills and supplies to teach a new set of girls from their school how to MAKE with eTextiles.  They also left with access to an online classroom where they can continue to network, share, learn together.  The online classroom will include weekly challenges that will introduce them to coding concepts and prepare them for an upcoming workshop where they will add can MAKE with CODE.

Stay tuned for Next Steps! We have even added a Follow by Email button to this blog so you won't miss any announcements about next steps and more opportunities.

And check out the link to the new Photo Gallery  tab on the Girls Make IT blog which will update every time one of our participants adds a picture to this blog!

Creating our NameTags Icebreaker gave our 7 teams a sneak preview of what was to come.

Day 24 Cassandra models the simplicity and power of blogs

On yesterdays post I asked "What can we as women do to help Shape the Future of Educational Technology?  How can we bring ourselves to the conversation?"   Well one way is to make ourselves visible in the blogosphere.  Today's post is about a remarkable young lady who models this well.  Meet Cassandra!

  A few months ago I met Cassandra, a 12th grade girl from Canada because she shared journey using a blog format. I was not only very impressed by her goals, and the actions she has taken towards meeting those goals,  but was also most impressed by her commitment to document that journey.   Learning to use a blogging platform is a simple but powerful tool that women and girls can use to bring themselves into the conversations that shape the future of technology and the future of our world. 

Cassandra's first blog post from October 10, 2014, not only kicks off her journey, but it also describes her goals, establishes her as a  young woman with a purpose and with some 'smarts' and 'skills'.   It also gives us a chance to connect with her as a person by hearing the story of her grandmother and the role she played in inspiring the Cassandra's project. 

GREAT  example  of how to document your work, tell your story, inspire others, and make connections.  It also adds one more tech-savvy female voice to the blogosphere!

Check out Cassandra's blog starting with her first blog post and then read the rest chronologically to see the progress she's made in such a short period of time. 

------------------- From Cassandra's blog  (October 10, 2014) --------------------

http://robograb.blogspot.ca/2014/10/inroduction.html?view=classic

Hello everyone!

My name is Cassandra and I am a grade 12 student in New Brunswick, Canada. This blog is to record my journey as I progress through my physics final project. For this project, I have 3D printed a prosthetic hand. The design is courtesy of 3D Universe and can be downloaded here. Using the included tensioner system, I plan on automating this. By using Servo motors and a programmed Arduino chip and a 5- button panel to indivudally control which finger is bent and what degree it is bent. I am not sure how I will power the motors and chip yet, but I am leaning towards solar rechargeable batteries. I would have two sets, so one can charge in the sun during the day while the other is in use.

This project presents many challenges for me. I have absolutely no background in circuits. I have some background in programming, but it still needs a lot of work. the additional assembly parts, motors, Arduino and button panel all add up to cost a pretty penny; I have little money to invest in this project. I also have to design a second gauntlet to put all of this additional equipment on. I think I will use https://www.tinkercad.com to design it. These are all minor roadblocks however, as I have support and guidance in these areas so I can begin to master these valuable skills.

The inspiration for this project comes from my grandmother, who is an amputee. She lost her leg below the knee when she was 19 after getting hit by a car. My grandmother's sister is also a leg amputee, and will lose her knee soon because her prosthetic rubs her stump very harshly and the device itself is too expensive to be replaced. Inspiration also comes from 3D universe, they are comparing their design to modern prosthetic hands. The cost difference is remarkable. They are also working to make their design more available to the public. Check out their work here.Project Daniel  is also a great inspiration. In fall 2013,  Mick Ebeling of Not Impossible travelled to Sudan with Microsoft Surfaces, 3D printers and plastic to war ridden Sudan. Over 50,000 people, mainly children, have been left amputees. The project began with one boy, named Daniel. Ebeling created and printed a prosthetic arm for Daniel and taught hi how to design, build and print limbs for others. Even though Ebling is no longer there, Daniel and his others continue to print limbs for others in need. Check out this video to learn more about the Daniel Project.

This project won't be easy for me, I will work for hours. Things will go wrong. I will probably cry, smile, scowl and laugh throughout the entire course of this project, but I will take so much away from this project. What I take away from this project isn't the point of why I decided to attempt this. My physics teacher taught me this: science and engineering and special technology isn't just for the advancement of our own minds or to make life easier for us. The purpose for all of that is to help others and make life easier for them. That is my main purpose for this project.

  

Posted 10th October 2014 by cpitchford

Day #20 Blast from the past - Tech Savvy Girls win Video Content

Playing catchup after missing a couple days away from the blog due to our moving the bus and preparing for FETC conference in Orlando, but still inspired to write about girls and technology and  determined to  play catchup and get back on track.

 Here's a post about a past Tech Savvy Girls success that's worth sharing.

--------------------------

TechSavvy Girls won the Lights Camera Action sponsored by the Vermont After School Partnership. 

Students were involved in every step of this video Having pictures and cameras in the girls’ hands throughout the week has always been one of our success strategies – let girls use creativity tools to tell their story – then provide them with some good content (themselves learning new tech skills) to film and photograph.  

OUR FIRST PLACE VIDEO

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. . One group of girls took pictures that captured the essence of Tech Savvy Girls and created the introduction using Animoto (an online video tool). Another group of girls learned that Scratch – the program they used to create computer games, could also be used to create animations for a digital story. These girls recorded the narratives and wrote the computer scripts to animate the characters using the same software they had used to create their computer games.

This further reinforced the concept that a high tech career can involve many roles, including careers that use their creative sides. Another group of girls interviewed one of the junior counselors and each other using Flip Cameras, Digital Cameras, and Audacity – again further reinforcing the concept that girls like technology when they are making a difference and have something real and meaningful to do with it. The logo at the beginning of the movie was created by yet another group of girls using Aviary – an free online tool that they can use beyond camp.

Yet another group of girls took the Flip Video footage from the week and sliced and assembled it into small video segments for the “on location” parts of the video. They got feedback from each other to get each segment to capture the spirit of that camp activity within the ‘time constraint’ given for each segment – yet another key to creativity. Although each segment was created during Tech Savvy Girls Summer Camp week, the finally stitching together of the final program submitted was not done by the girls as time ran out. As adults we put their work together into one video and uploaded it to You Tube. Unfortunately, the final product loss some quality when it was finally assembled into yet another tool – but we feel that the process of creating a digital story with real tools that were accessible in the daily lives of these girls trumped having a high quality rendition of a product produced by specialized tools that are not available to them beyond camp.

This video production project provided Tech Savvy Girls with with confidence, skills, and experience with accessible tools – all strategies for closing the gender gap found in today’s high tech world. 

Day #19 Sierra, Sage, and Ebba's inspirational story

Yesterday I introduced you to Sierra who assembled her first 3D printed hand for her 5th grade science fair.  But there is much more to the story of Sierra who is now joined by her sister Sage in their pursuit to use 3D printers to help others.

After a successful crowdsourcing campaign the girls ended up with their own 3D printer and continued to work on the design for a hand for 8 year old Ebba.

The story in this video reinforces what we know about one of the main reasons  young women pursue high tech careers -- to help others!

Day 18: Sierra's inspiration to become Tech Savvy

Last week I posted about two amazing young women I met at the HackLab in North Boyton. This week I thought I'd repost an article of another amazing young lady I met spring that once again shows up the world is full of female role models (young and old). One of the trends that you will find amongst techsavvy girls is that they were often drawn to technology by a desire to help. In this case Sierra wondered how 3D printers could help people and animals. ---- reposted from Create Make Learn Blog ------- http://createmakelearn.blogspot.com/2014/07/sierras-journey-of-personalized.html

Last week I posted about two amazing girls

Sierra 's Science Fair Project

On Thursday, June 13, the gym at Monkton Central School was buzzing with students passionately showing off their science fair projects.  The artifacts, ranging from poster boards to digital exhibits created using applications like Haiku Deck and Prezi, to 3D printed hands, represented learning driven from the curiosity inside each of these 5th grade students.    

The curiosity of 10 year old, Sierra, about how 3D printing can be used to improve the lives of humans and animals, lead her to a journey that went far beyond textbook or Internet research.  It lead her to connect with the e-NABLE community for some real ‘hands on’ learning assembling her own 3D printed prosthetic hand.  

While Sierra was doing research for her science project, her mom noticed an announcement of a Google Hangout on Air where Vermont educators were conducting their own inquiry about the role of 3D printing in education.  She quickly followed up with Vermont educator, Lucie deLaBruere,  to get contact information about  Jon Schull, researcher scientist from Rochester Institute of Technology who had  joined the conversation and shared the work of the e-NABLE community.  Sierra and her mom, Lianne, reached out to the eNable community and got a quick response from volunteer member Jeremy Simon.

Jeremy, who runs 3D Universe, helped Sierra understand the math involved in printing a hand and printed a hand that fit her own hand.  Within just a few days, Sierra and her Mom were opening a package mailed to them from Jeremy which contained the hardware and 3D printed parts that Jeremy had printed for Sierra to assemble a 3D printed hand.  Sierra followed the step by step directions posted online, stopping for an occasional ice cream break, while her mom documented the progress using the iMotion app on her iPad.

Persevering past her bedtime, Sierra finished the assembled hand within 2 days. The build took approximately 5 hours and made it possible for her to reach the following conclusion for her science project:

“My results show that the 3D printed hands can help people in need of hands. I know because of my research.  People have sent hands everywhere to people who need them and they work - people can pick up things.  It’s like a real hand!”

As often happens during authentic personalized learning, the whole class learned from watching their classmate’s journey, and Sierra’s teacher, Ms. Gagner, invited Jeremy Simon, e-NABLE volunteer, to share his expertise about 3D printing with the whole class via Skype.  Bringing experts into the classroom using virtual field trips via Skype and Google Hangouts is expanding the possibilities of what students learn and from whom they learn, making learning even more personal than ever. 

Student learning is no longer limited to what their teacher’s know or to what publishers include in textbooks.  Mentors like Jeremy Simon can help individual students or a whole class understand new ideas and concepts, with students driving the learning with their questions being answered in real time.

After a successful assembly of the “Cyborg beast” as a model for her science fair project, Sierra wanted to take her learning to the next level and actually print a 3D hand for a real child.  The e-NABLE community quickly found an 8 year old girl who has a functional thumb, but missing fingers.  Sierra is working with her new mentor, Jeremy from 3D Universe, to help build and test a new type of design, that will be sent to an 8 year old girl, 2000 miles away.

In an era where the educational landscape is filled with talk of personalized learning, Sierra’s story provides a powerful example and model of how maker tools and maker empowerment can contribute to true personalized learning.  

Learn more about Sierra and her project here:

• http://enablingthefuture.org/2014/06/13/e-nabling-sierra-part-3/
• http://www.3duniverse.org/2014/05/16/e-nabling-sierra/

Day 17: Girls Who Code Summer Immersion expands to 60 cities

More than a thousand  high school girls will be learning to code this summer thanks to the 

Girls Who Codes  Summer Immersion program.  Girls Who Code just announced that they are now  taking applications for their  2015 seven week summer program which will be offered in 60 cities. That’s triple the amount of cities from last year with a goal of serving  triple the amount of girls it reached last year (375). 

So if you are a junior or high school girl interested in learning to code who live in one of these cities,  fill out your application for this  amazing free opportunity. 

Austin, TX

Boston, MA

Chicago, IL

Los Angeles, CA

Miami, FL

Mountain View, CA 

Newark, NJ

New York, NY

Palo Alto, CA

San Francisco, CA

San Jose, CA

San Ramon, CA

Seattle, WA

Springfield, MA

Washington, DC

You’ll  learn the skills you need to write computer programs and design mobile apps and build robots.   You’ll get to meet women in the computer industry  and get exposed to aspects of the business including mobile apps and robotics.  Check out what these girls had to say about their experience at Girls Who Code.

Reshma Saujani

One of the things I like about the approach that Reshma Saujani (founder and CEO of Girls Who Code) takes is that she is committed to keep the girls involved with high tech professionals long enough to  learn to code.  One Hour of Code is fun;  a one week summer camp can get your feet wet,   but seven weeks of coding with industry professionals will actually build the skills you need to understand what’s involved with learning to code and set you off towards an exciting high tech career.

Kudo's to Girls Who Codes for getting the industry support they need to set their site on teaching one million girls to code.

Day 16: Role models come in all sizes and all ages

Tonight I met two amazing young women who left me inspired and in awe with their tech skills.


As I walked into  The HackLab North Boyton for their  bi-weekly Project Night lead by David Vitrant, I was not surprised to see a dozen or so men huddled around robot kits, Arduino boards,  and soldering irons.  The group was a welcoming group and I soon found myself with a soldering iron in hand trying to improve my aim as I helped one of the members assemble mini circuit boards, resistors, and LEDs.  After a few false starts, I got a chance to use soldering WICK to 'unsolder' my mistakes.   It goes without saying that I'm very early into putting in my 10,000 hours of practice towards become an expert maker.  I gave myself a pep talk and  reminded myself of the "experience gap" and did not become discouraged.  Since someone had grabbed the solder, I  decided to take a stretch break and wander around for a bit.

What I didn't expect was that I was about to be totally inspired by two amazing young women who had quietly settled in to work on a project at table in the back of the room.  One of them was just putting the soldering iron back in its holster after completing the assembly of a button switch.  The other was in the midst of  assembling two stepping motors to a piece of acrylic.   Intrigued, I walked over and watched in awe as they continued with their project.




After a bit I introduced myself and learned that my two new role models,  Ellie and Mila,  were age 8 and 9.  I was delighted when I saw Mila grab the soldering iron again after securing  a tiny circuit board onto a 'third hand'.  I realized that if I stuck around and lurked that I might pick up a few pointers.  I watched carefully!

What I  left with was much more than pointers of how to use a third hand and a magnifying glass and how to add just the right amount of solder.  I left truly inspired.  If Mila could do it,  so could I!  I just needed a bit more practice.  I asked Mila how long she had been soldering.  "Since December"  she answered confidently and continued to work on her project. Meanwhile,  Ellie (equally confident) suggested to her Dad that she unscrew the assembly she had just put together to make some minor adjustments.

After asking the girls, then Dad,  for permission to take a few pictures, I snapped away, while telling these amazing young women about  Super Awesome Sylvia (another 9 year old girl who had inspired me with her own Maker Show).

One the way home,  it occurred to me that I couldn't have been more inspired had it been Yahoo's Marissa Mayer or Facebooks' Sheryl Sandberg sitting in that room tonight.

Thank you Mila and Ellie for making my night.  I know that you will be a role model to  many more women (young and old) as you continue on your journey.

P.S.  Thanks also to Mila and Ellie's Dad who obviously gets it.  (More about the role of Dad's in the lives of TechSavvy girls in future post).