What an entrance, right!? How cool is it to celebrate the hard work of girls as they enter their culminating celebration for twelve weeks of hard work while participating in Technovation!
What is Technovation? It is a program where girls form a team then create, build, and sell an app that addresses a problem in their community they are passionate about. The video above is from Appapalooza MN 2018.
Are you an elementary teacher? You may be thinking, that is so cool but I teach elementary! Guess what, me too! There are still a few ways you can get involved with Technovation.
- Do you know any girls who are 10–18 years of age? Girls who are 10–14 years old can compete in the junior division.
- Volunteer Online. I volunteer online as a judge. For a few weeks, I spend time viewing apps created by girls and judging them against a rubric.
- Volunteer in Person. In Minnesota, we celebrate at Appapalooza. It is an amazing day where girls are showcasing their hard work, we are celebrating it, and they are connecting with other girls in the challenge and local companies.
- Take time to talk to your students about STEM, more specifically Computer Science (CS).
- Find more information about how to participate as a student, mentor, ambassador, parent, or judge.
Volunteers for Technovation make a difference. 58% of alumnae enroll in a further CS course. 26% of alumnae in college major in CS (this is 65x higher than the national rate of 0.4% of first-year female college students majoring in CS). — https://technovationchallenge.org/
Research shows that encouragement matters. Microsoft published an article on what we can do to help girls stay interested in STEM. A top take away for me — when you talk with your students about STEM, it does make a difference. Whether it is you as their teacher or a member of their family, start the conversation. Learn more here.
You could lead a STEM Club. Microsoft shows that girls who participate in a STEM club, while in 5th-8th grade, are much more likely to take a STEM class in high school. Learn more here.
Code.org reports that girls who take a CS class in high school, are ten times more likely to major in CS in college and go into a CS career. Learn more here.
As an early elementary teacher, I often saw students play. During this time, they modeled roles and careers that they had experience with. I can say with confidence, in the past ten years, I never once saw a young girl play make-believe as a women computer scientist. However, through conversations with teacher friends, I recently have been told stories in which their daughters were playing the roles of scientists, computer scientists, and engineers. Let’s make sure all young girls have the same opportunity!
There are many great resources for you if you would like to start a club. Here are a few free options to get started with right away:
I hope this article inspires you to look into how you can help inspire girls in your community to try CS.
To learn more about my experience as a judge for Technovation, visit
