Chelmsford Student Participates in All Girl Challenge at Red Hat

Courtesy Photo: Nashoba Tech girls who attended the recent All Girl Challenge at Red Hat in Westford are, from left, Julia Bernard (Westford), Victoria Manning (Ayer), Amanda Naylor (Townsend), Shayna Legros (Chelmsford), Heather Bosworth ( (Shirley) and Amy Strong (Ayer).

Five girls from Nashoba Valley Technical High School were among the 48 from local high schools and middle schools to participate in the recent All Girl Challenge at Red Hat in Westford, including Shayna Legros of Chelmsford.

The goal of the two-day event was to engage girls who hope to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering and math — commonly referred to as STEM.

“The All Girl Challenge gives middle- and high-school girls the opportunity to use their creativity and science, technology, engineering and math skills to help make the world a better place,” said DeLisa Alexander, executive vice president and chief people officer for Red Hat. “As a company, we’ve long benefited from the technical talent in the greater Boston area, and this is a great way to give back to the community.”

Attending for Nashoba Tech were seniors Victoria Manning and Amy Strong, both of Ayer, junior Amanda Naylor of Townsend, sophomores Heather Bosworth of Shirley and Shayna Legros of Chelmsford, and freshman Julia Bernard of Westford. All are students in Nashoba Tech’s Engineering Technology program, except Bernard, who is in the Banking, Marketing & Retail program.

During the event, the girls broke up into interdisciplinary teams to compete for the best prototype idea that solves a social problem, has a sustainable business model, and incorporates one STEM application.

Exemplifying the essence of mentorship and collaboration, teams were guided by female students from universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts Lowell, as well as business professionals and community leaders.

The All Girl Challenge also featured classes by female engineers and business owners who specialize in design thinking, public speaking and software development. U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas also spoke.

Red Hat is a software company headquartered in South Carolina that provides open-source software products to the enterprise community.