Latina Girls in Lawrence Learn Computer Technology

Latina girls in Lawrence, Mass., learn computer technology. (photo: RUMBONEWS.com)

The following article is from www.RumboNews.com.

Latina girls who attend the Lawrence Boys and Girls Club [in Lawrence, Mass.] are getting excited about technology, thanks to an after school program offered by Northern Essex Community College and funded by a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education.

            Once a month, bilingual professors from the college visit the club and offer special after-school programs that explore computer technologies and their applications.

            The girls, ages 9 to 14, are learning about programming, digital images, and much more and having fun at the same time.

            “Our goal is to get them excited about technology”, says Ethel Schuster, a Northern Essex computer science professor who is running the program with Liliana Brand, a professor from the college’s math department.  “We teach them how to use a simple interface and they see results right away.”

            At the workshop on Oct. 31, 2008, the girls learned how to program Picocrickets, tiny computers that can spin, light up, and make music.  Some valuable lessons about programming were learned—including the importance of following a sequence of commands—and the girls delighted in what they had created.

            “They now know and understand about programming,” says Schuster.

            The two professors were assisted by Northern Essex students Oscar Adames of Lawrence, Damion Robinson of Methuen, Mass., and Carla and Francis Vega of Lawrence.

            This program is funded by a Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) Pipeline Fund grant which Northern Essex and Middlesex community colleges received from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. 

            “The goal is to ignite an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math, according to Bill Heineman, Northern Essex’s dean of business, math, science, and technology.  “There are tremendous opportunities in these areas and we want to catch students while they are young and hopefully get them thinking about continuing their education in these fields.”

source:  RumboNews.com