More than 50 girls from 11 middle schools in the region took part Saturday in the seventh annual Girls Day, sponsored by St. Bonaventure University’s Computer Science Department.
Students had the opportunity to learn about robots, digital scrapbooking, computer-generated animations, encryption and other modern applications of computer technology through hands-on exercises in six different workshops presented by St. Bonaventure graduates and undergraduates and professional women in the computer science field.
St. Bonaventure students assisted participants during lab sessions and as they walked around campus between workshops.
Suzanne Watson, computer science lecturer, started the Girls’ Day event after reading about the decreased interest in the sciences among middle-school aged girls.
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“Girls Day was a success because so many SBU students, alums, faculty, and professional women were willing to put so much time into creating exciting, interesting workshops that truly engaged the participating girls,” Watson said.
Notable graduates who presented at the workshops included: 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; Barbara McNally, ’93, who works at Birthday in a Box after spending 11 years at America Online; Barb Snyderman, ’93, proprietor of a web design business, BITS LLC, in Rochester; and Angela Colomaio, ’08, who works at Alcas Corp. as a web programmer.
“I hope my daughter takes some of the things she learned here and applies them to her schooling and her life,” said a parent who attended the day-long event. “I only wish a greater number of teachers would have attended so they could bring it back to the classrooms.”
Schools attending included Allegany-Limestone, Bolivar-Richburg, Cuba-Rushford, Ellicottville Central, Fretz (Pa.) Middle School, Gowanda, Olean Middle School, Portville, Southern Tier Catholic, St. Bernard (Pa.) and Wellsville.