Attention ALL female CS Students: Please Apply for an NCWIT Aspirations Award!

Hi all,

This blog post is for all female students in AP Computer Science A and Advanced Computer Science, as well as any female students I have registered either in an independent study with me or considering registering into one.

The NCWIT (National Center for Women in Technology) offers an Aspirations award every year to female students aspiring to go into a career that integrates technology in some meaningful way.  While certainly young women with an interest in going into CS are encouraged to apply, any female with a career aspiration in an area in which computing or technology has played a vital role also is encouraged to apply.  (You should read that to be just about every career path, by the way…)

The award criteria generally are as follows:

·         A strong interest in leveraging the power of technology to achieve your aspirations

·         Evidence of prior achievements in using computing or technology in prior studies in innovative ways

·         Demonstration of strong leadership skills

·         Clear articulation of student aspirations

From having talked directly with the adults who judge the applications, I can tell you directly that you do not have to have done “amazing” things with technology in the past to qualify for an award.  This is a factor, but not the only factor.  You also do not have to made up your mind that you know what you want to do when you “grow up” in your application (although that certainly can be helpful).  Heck, I don’t even know what I want to do when I grow up.  J  Instead, if you know you have an interest in computing or technology, and you can clearly-articulate what you have done with computing or technology in the past and what you aspire to accomplish in utilizing it personally, professionally, and to be of service to others, your application will be considered a strong one. 

Application deadlines are below.  Note that these fall generally within the same timeline as college admissions applications, so it’s probably a good idea to consider starting these sooner rather than later, when for seniors all the college admissions stuff gets intense.  The applications are not very difficult to complete, and you do want to have a teacher recommendation (that would be me).

Now here’s the truly cool part:  Yeah, if you’re a national award winner you get cash and a laptop and other “goodies”, but that’s really not the ultimate benefit of winning an award.  The true benefit of winning an aspirations award (at any level) comes from joining a network of over 2200 young women who have also received the award.  These are people you can get to know and network with as you work towards your aspirations.  You will quickly see that you’re not the only one out there who is a female and looking to go into the tech sector.  But even more important than that, if you win an award you are paired with an adult mentor from industry and the public sector (think:  the National Science Foundation, Google, Microsoft, Intel, Bank of American, Pfizer, and on and on) whose job it is to help you along your journey towards achieving your aspirations.  This can mean internships, tours of working environments of well-known companies and non-for-profits, and a chance to be supported by and develop a relationship with a woman who is now where you want to go.  I’m telling you with every ounce of my being as a teacher and as an advocate for each of you: HOW YOU INTERVIEW, WHO YOUR PROFESSIONAL CONNECTIONS ARE, AND WHAT INTERNSHIP/PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE YOU POSSESS COMING INTO A JOB INTERVIEW WILL PLAY AS MUCH OF A ROLE FOR MANY EMPLOYERS AS WHERE YOU GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE.  Keep that in mind throughout the college admissions process….

As you can tell, I STRONGLY support this program, and believe EVERY one of you, REGARDLESS of how much computing experience you have, should apply for this award.  This is a MUST for any females in my second-year classes, but I would certainly say for any young woman taking your first programming class right now, DO IT!  You took this class for a reason, and hopefully that reason includes an interest in investigating a possible career path for yourself or consideration for how this could impact the career path you are, in fact, interested in.  Becoming a recipient of an NCWIT award is much more than earning a certificate or a plaque or a trophy, it is a gateway to opening an enormous number of doors for yourself as you transition out of high school and into the work world. 

All the details for where to go for the award are included below.  Please look these over carefully, and please seriously consider applying for this award.  I will help each and every one of you personally through the application process, as I hold a very strong passion towards the good work that is being done by this organization to help you out.  If you look at the number of well-recognized companies and organizations that have partnered up with NCWIT, it is no lightweight list.  There’s some serious big-ticket names there.  So there are a lot of people out there who share my belief that this organization has the right idea. 

Please e-mail me directly to let me know that you are interested in applying for the award (I hope I hear from each of you!)  We can either sit down outside of class to plan out your application, or we can figure something out via e-mail.  But I truly believe this is one of those opportunities that you DON’T want to turn down… there’s too much energy going towards this organization at this time to disregard this. 

Mr. Svetlik

NCWIT Aspirations in Computing - Student awards - now open! 9/02/15 9:04 AM

https://www.aspirations.org/
The application process for the NCWIT Aspirations Student and Educator awards is now open!

• Please encourage your female students to apply, and also please seek support from your administration for the Educator award!

• Below are materials to help spread the word at your school and additional information for Principals, students, and parents:

http://bit.ly/AiCShare16
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• Below are more details form their website:

From the web site:

Applications for the 2016 Award for Aspirations in Computing are open from September 1 to October 26, 2015 (8:00 p.m. EDT).

The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing honors high school women who are active and interested in computing and technology, and encourages them to pursue their passions. This multi-tiered competition includes recognition at the national level (sponsored by Bank of America) and at the local level (sponsored by Microsoft), serving 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and all U.S. military bases overseas.
Each local award taps into the powerful network of NCWIT Alliance members: teams from academia, non-profit organizations, startups, and corporations come together to build a community of support for young women interested in computing.

 Eligibility

Any U.S. high school woman in grades 9 through 12 is eligible to apply, if she also meets both of the following criteria:

• She attends a high school in the U.S. or is a U.S. citizen attending a high school in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or on a U.S. military base.
• She has a U.S. Tax Identification or Social Security Number.

Aspirations Award recipients are chosen for their outstanding aptitude and interest in computing, proven leadership ability, academic performance, and plans for post‑secondary education.