St. Bonaventure University’s Department of Computer Science is sponsoring the eighth annual Girls Day event beginning at 8:45 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7.
The participants will be sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade girls from about 30 area schools. Students interested in attending should contact their guidance counselors or technology teachers. The deadline for schools to sign up is Oct. 28.
Students will have the opportunity to learn about robots, digital scrapbooking, computer-generated animations, encryption, social networking and other modern applications of computer technology. Five different hands-on workshops will be presented by St. Bonaventure graduates and undergraduates and professional women in the computer science field.
St. Bonaventure students will also assist participants during lab sessions and as they walk around campus between workshops.
Suzanne Watson, Ed. D., computer science lecturer, started the Girls Day event after reading about the decreased interest in the sciences among middle-school aged girls. An article in the Wall Street Journal reported that the number of incoming freshmen women who declare a computer science major fell by 70 percent between 2000 and 2005. Watson made it her mission to change those numbers.
“We have several goals for our eighth annual Girls Day,” said Watson. “We want them to have a positive experience with computer applications, and we want them to interact with successful computer science professionals and students.”
Notable graduates presenting at the workshops include:
Barb Snyderman, ’93, who is a proprietor of a Web design business and has gone back to school to become a high school business teacher;
Angela Wood, ’09, a Web programmer intern for Cutco Corp. in Olean;
Angela Colomaio, ’08, a Web programmer for Cutco Corp.;
Barbara McNally, ’93, who has previously worked for America Online and Birthday in a Box and currently manages the development of accounting software as senior project manager at Deltek;
Heather Blersch, ’88, who works for General Dynamics IT as a program manager for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Telecommunication and Information Systems Command;
Kristen Keenan, ’02 and ’06, who is a staff specialist for math, science and technology with Cattaraugus Allegany BOCES.
Dr. Anne Foerst, assistant professor for computer science, will also be presenting at the workshops.
“Just meeting and seeing successful women, students and professionals doing what they love to do is a valuable experience for the girls,” Watson said, “And, of course, we also introduce them to St. Bonaventure University.”
The event will conclude at 3 p.m. after a panel discussion with workshop presenters. Throughout the discussion, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions regarding the computer science field.
For more information, visit the Girls Day Web site at http://www.cs.sbu.edu/girlsday or contact Dr. Watson at 716-375-4091 or swatson@sbu.edu.
By Lindsey Scutella, '11
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About the University: St. Bonaventure is in the top 15 percent of institutions in U.S.News & World Report’s 2010 ranking of Northern universities that offer master’s degrees. It has a history of accomplishment and service that extends back 150 years. At the heart of St. Bonaventure University is the Franciscan affirmation of the dignity and worth of the entire created order. Fundamental to this vision is an awareness that it is within relationships and community that individuals discover and develop their potential.