Pine City, MN

Pine Technical College is in the midst of hosting its ninth annual Women in Technology (WIT) two-day event with more than 260 sixth-grade girls from seven area schools in attendance to learn about careers in hi-tech industries. The event, organized by PTC faculty and staff members, features hands-on demonstrations, a tour of the college and guest presentations such as “The Chemistry of Makeup,” “Fun with Robotics,” “The Geology of Venus,” “Paper Making,” “Virtual Reality” and more.

“Research has shown girls at this age begin to formulate ideas regarding what careers they may see themselves pursuing in the future,” says PTC Dean of Student Affairs Nancy Mach. “We’ve designed this event to help young girls see and imagine themselves in roles where they are contributing to advanced, hi-tech industries. Many girls at this impressionable age are forming thoughts about what they want to do when they grow up, and this kind of field trip makes a lasting, positive impression,” Mach adds.

This year’s WIT event features an opening keynote presentation from Lori Tapani, Co-President of Wyoming Machine, and a closing session from The Raptor Center with live raptors and a presentation about careers in animal science – with many more presentations and sessions in between.

“Every year, we look forward to sending our sixth-grade girls to this event,” says Wendy Wall, Counselor at Grantsburg Middle School. “They come back with such vibrant energy and enthusiasm for careers in technology and science they may not have considered yet,” Wall adds.

The event runs for two days, and by the time it concludes Mar. 10, nearly every sixth-grade girl from Askov, Braham, Grantsburg, Wisc., Mora, Pine City and Rush City will have experienced WIT. Sixth-grade girls from Braham Area Elementary School in Braham, C.E. Jacobson Elementary School in Rush City, East Central Middle School in Askov, Grantsburg Middle School in Grantsburg, Wisc., Pine City Elementary in Pine City, St. Mary’s School in Pine City and Trailview Elementary School in Mora are participating in this year’s WIT event. The 2011 WIT event is tentatively scheduled for Mar. 8 and 9, 2011.

For more information, call 320-629-5114.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 9:24 am and is filed under 06. Leadership: Skills and Mobilizing, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.