HEBRON ― As Lakewood’s Women Who Code met after college just lately within the center college library, the leaders of this system have been having hassle with a smartboard introduced in by IT teacher Mark Vukovic for that day’s session.
Nevertheless, senior Gabrielle Jones, junior Cambree Sales space and sophomore Madelyn Prentice, after taking slightly time, have been capable of ultimately get it up and working and proceed with their lesson for the sixth grade ladies.
Vukovic, who simply serves as an advisor and lets the scholars run the periods, didn’t intervene. He was capable of smile proudly with the issue solved by their troubleshooting.
Women Who Code, which inspires youthful ladies to enter IT and pc programming, relies on the nonprofit group of the identical title that’s based mostly in New York Metropolis, which goals to help and improve the variety of ladies in pc science and shut the gender hole in expertise. It was began at Lakewood in 2018 by then-senior Abigail Smith (now Abigail Hyde), and after COVID interfered, it was revived in 2021.
Each Jones, who will attend Muskingum College and main in music training, and Vukovic, who has taught IT for over 20 years at Lakewood and Profession and Expertise Training Facilities of Licking County (C-TEC), just lately obtained Nationwide Heart for Girls and Info Expertise (NCWIT) awards.
Jones gained an Ohio Aspirations award, given to glorious college students in pc science. She was a member of the Women Who Code membership that began in 2018 and has taken AP pc science at Lakewood for school credit score.
Vukovic gained the Ohio Educator award for the NCWIT Ohio Affiliate, which is given to at least one instructor in Ohio annually. He was 2022 C-TEC Instructor of the Yr.
“It is so neat, attending to obtain the award collectively,” Jones stated. “My dad is in expertise and owned a pc retailer. I used to be within the robotics membership in eighth grade, and I used to be contemplating what I wish to do in highschool. This (Women Who Code) was my first publicity to it. I used to be fortunate to get the award, and hopefully, it will probably deliver consideration to and develop this system.”
Vukovic stated his award comes from the Women Who Code initiative and the alternatives it goals to offer ladies within the tech area.
A few Lakewood grads are already thriving of their careers. Membership founder Hyde works for Brigham Younger College-Hawaii, which she graduated from, whereas Jensen Gartner is an internet designer for Booz-Allen-Hamilton and is affiliated with the Air Drive base in Dayton.
“We like to trace the post-graduate outcomes,” Vukovic stated. “And so they like to present again. Jensen is a part of the C-TEC advisory committee.”
Sales space and Prentice are a part of the brand new management workforce for Women Who Code, which created a want listing for future classes for youthful college students.
“The final couple weeks, they’ve targeted on cyber safety and encryption,” Vukovic stated. “As soon as they took over, they’ve taken this system in a distinct course.”
“He (Vukovic) supplied us an opportunity to run this program collectively,” Sales space stated. “This can be a subject lots of people have to learn about. They’re studying about utilizing longer passwords and malware, and total, it is about being secure on the web. At the start, I used to be form of iffy with it, however now, I feel that is cool. I can dig this.”
Prentice stated she had at all times loved Vukovic’s pc programming class, and becoming a member of Women Who Code was form of a pure development.
“I discovered about this (cyber safety and encryption) in Mr. Vukovic’s class, and we thought it could be a very good subject to show folks,” she stated. “It is going very well, and I’ve actually come to take pleasure in watching the ladies take pleasure in what we’ve got been exhibiting them.”
As Jones takes the following step in her profession, she’s wanting ahead to incorporating her expertise background into music training.
“I’ve kicked round a whole lot of variables,” she stated. “It is good to broaden my horizons.”
Jones identified that many of the college students on the tech workforce at Lakewood Excessive College are ladies, which bodes properly for the long run as Intel begins to take maintain in Licking County.
“We work on the Chromebooks, repair them, and ship them again to the scholars,” she defined. “A whole lot of it’s over the summer season, and we do it for each constructing.”
She’ll even be maintaining a tally of Women Who Code at her alma mater because it continues to stimulate technological curiosity from the youthful college students.
“I need the (center college) library to be stuffed (with ladies) after college,” Jones stated.
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