MCWT K THROUGH 12 PROGRAMS

In order to mitigate the growing gender gap, resulting from less girls and women entering technology fields, it is important to encourage young girls to study,  find interest and meaning through working in technology fields and roles as early as possible. Studies have shown that gender disparity begins to become more and more evident once girls reach middle-school ages.

The MCWT Foundation has developed a growing set of K-12 programs to gain the attention of girls, and share with them our passion and excitement as women in technology.

GET-IT Programs

The MCWT Foundation GET-IT High School Program was named by the inaugural team of participating girls and stands for "Girls Exploring Together, Information Technology."   It is an after school club that runs from September through May. Through GET-IT, girls are encouraged to consider and ultimately pursue careers in information technology by learning about it through "hands-on" creative, team activities. The major GET-IT components include the MCWTF web design competition in the fall and the Robofest robotics competition in the spring. Students also participate in exciting field trips and events related to technology.

RoboFest

To inspire girls in the direction of engineering and progamming, and as an extension of our GET-IT programs, MCWTF also actively supports  girls' involvement in annual Robofest team competition. We have, additionally sponsored a number of other teams with grant money to compete in statewide competitions.

Camp Infinity

MCWT Foundation's Camp Infinity is a week long summer camp designed to introduce girls to computer and Internet technologies through hands-on activities. It is attended annually by 40 Metro Detroit-area fourth through seventh grade girls, selected through an application process.  At Camp Infinity the girls work in teams to create their own web pages, design their own video games, and build and program their own robots under the direction of university students, faculty, and women professionals. The camp provides opportunities to meet women professionals who work in technology fields, develop a website sharing interests and camp experiences in technology, and participate in fun, interesting and educational activities associated with technology.

Website Design Contest

The Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation (MCWTF) hosts an annual website design contest each fall for high school girls in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties. This unique contest, with several cash prizes up to $500, offers female students an opportunity to develop and display both their creative abilities and their HTML programming skills.   It is not just a contest but also a learning experience. MCWTF offers a one-day seminar to actually teach the HTML skills the contestants need to know, as well as training them in website design techniques and presentation skills. Each year a new theme is announced for the contest. Participants also receive a list of guidelines on the topic and on technical requirements.

Girls can enter singly or as a team with one other girl. A teacher at a student's high school must sign her entry form as her faculty sponsor. First round judging focuses on technical quality. Finalists will then be judged on usability, content, and an oral presentation of their website to the judges.

The contest opens for applications each year in September. Finalists are selected in November and the winners are announced a few weeks later after final presentations by the teams selected as finalists.