The Females Embrace Awesome Technology camp, four days of science, technology, engineering and math activities geared toward girls, is set for June 24-27 at Franklin Regional Senior High School.
The program will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. Girls in grades 6-9 will explore computer science and information technology in a fun and supportive environment.
The camp first came to FR in 2017 thanks to then-senior Nicole Baldy. After attending a University of Pittsburgh computer camp, Baldy was able to secure a grant from the National Center for Women & Information Technology, or NCWIT, to help fund the first camp.
“We learned a little bit about Python , a text-based language,” Baldy said. “We used Weebly , a website design service; we used App Inventor , a way to create apps for Android phones, and the last thing we did was video-game design using a block-based computing language called Scratch .”
The camp’s aim is to involve more young women in STEM fields. According NCWIT, while 57% of bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2016 were to female students, only 19% of computer and information science degrees went to women.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that by 2024 there will be 1.1 million computing-related job openings in the U.S., but more than two-thirds could go unfilled due to an insufficient pool of college graduates with the necessary degrees.
For more, see Sites.google.com/view/females-technology.
The high school is at 3200 School Road in Murrysville. The camp is sponsored by the NCWIT.
