MCC Hosts 'Girls in Technology Day'

MANCHESTER, NH - To help boost a national trend of more women moving into technology jobs and taking leadership positions, Manchester Community College is again hosting “Girls in Technology Day” to ensure young women in high school get a glimpse of the opportunities that await them in the high-tech sector. The day-long seminar is designed to showcase the many career opportunities exist today, and offer advice for how to align their academic courses to prepare them for tomorrow.

From 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, March 18, 2016, Manchester Community College will host the state’s fourth annual Girls Technology Day, an initiative of the New Hampshire Department of Education’s Career Development Bureau.

Haley LaPoint, meteorologist for WMUR-TV, is the keynote speaker. Other industry leaders, as well as Manchester Community College faculty and staff, will present workshops for the students. Classes range from careers in robotics to how to be a forensic scientist to learning how to build your own phone “app” and even lessons on how to follow a career in welding.

“We still have a lot of growing to do in the area of women-led technology companies and female employees in the tech sector in the U.S.,” says Susan Huard, President of Manchester Community College. “Studies show that 80% of jobs in technology go to men. The trend is beginning to show balance, but we have work ahead of us, which is why we are proud to host Girls in Technology Day to connect today’s leaders to the next generation of women CEO’s.”

More than 250 ninth- and tenth-grade girls will participate from the following high schools: ConVal Regional, Pinkerton Academy, Milford, Manchester School of Technology, Manchester West, Manchester Memorial, Bow, Merrimack and Mount Zion High Schools.

The event is funded in part by a NH Space Grant Consortium-NASA, Naval Sea Systems Command at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, PLTW, 4H Club, University of New Hampshire, Microsoft, Vex Robotics, IOL, NAWIC, DECCO, E-stem Solutions, Eversource, Dartmouth-Hitchcock, WMUR, the Girl Scouts and Manchester Community College.

Submitted by Scott Spradling.