Hi All,

Wow what a great turnout!!! There were 80 girls, the library was full....

It was such a great event. There were lots of wonderful questions, so much IGNITE support at Cleveland. Big posters lined the hallways!!

Thank you to the wonderful presenters at this event. You all connected in such a magnificent way with the young women at Cleveland. I already had 3 e-mails from the girls when I got back to the office, wanting to do more IGNITE activities, job shadows, internships etc... You all took the time and care to answer all the girls questions. You really made that magic happen, by telling your story, so that the girls can relate to you and understand that they can do it too. You are all such amazing and wonderful IGNITE partners. Thank you to Tam Hubert (Program Manager - Microsoft), Nora Duffy (Intellectual Property - Avanade), and Martine Worrall (Mechanical Engineer - Synapse). You were all wonderful! Thank you for all you do.

Thank you to the wonderful staff at Cleveland HS, who rally the support and send the crowds of girls our way. Thank you to Deborah Gallaher (Librarian), Doris Jones (Career Center Specialist), Wayne Floyd (Assistant Principal), Donna Marshall (Principal), Erin McKee (Social Studies teacher - welcome to our new IGNITE partner at Cleveland!!), Karen Haggard (Special Ed teacher), and Terry Cornelius (Math teacher). As you can see we have lots of support at Cleveland and that makes this such a wonderful experience for the girls.

Here are the girls comments and they always say it best.

• I really liked the welcoming and open discussion. They made me consider a career in tech. I look forward going on the field trip.
• I like the guests. It is a good thing to know that we have opportunities in our future. I learned that something that I write is already copyrighted.
• I liked how they are giving women chances and more privileges to work in technology that is a good opportunity for me to take.
• I learned a lot from the guest speakers. They gave positive examples on choosing to come to IGNITE.
• I liked the information, and the fact that you guys came today to talk to us and organize it. It was great to hear the stories of about their lives and careers.
• I am happy to see the women in technology. I believe that being a woman can't stop you , no matter how hard they try.
• Doing an internship can be the biggest step toward a bright future.
• I learned about internships.
• I liked the speakers.
• If we set our goals clearly and focus on them, we will reach them. I learned how to get to what I want to do.
• I learned that a lot of things in this world has to do with technology.
• I learned that even fashion is created by technology.
• I liked how each woman talked about a different part of Microsoft and things you could do to improve getting to where you want to go.
• The most interesting thing I heard was that people may choose to do something after college, but not always end up doing it.
• I learned about scholarships.
• Nothing, everything was perfect. Basically this event gives you a strategy on what you want to do in technology.
• I learned that I could do well financially and find a career that I love too.
• I liked that they try to get women involved. I look forward to the field trip and that I get to choose which thing I want to see.
• I liked the fact that they made it sound easy and if we want to do it then we can. Saying also that you don't have to just know how to do math to work in technology. she also said its important to know what's going on in the world.
• You can make something like a poem on the internet and if someone steals it you can sue them because it is copyrighted. She used cat food cans to put on a piano for a certain sound.
• I liked how the first lady said how she went through what we are going through now as teenage girls.
• The most interesting thing I heard today was Martine working with Ipods, and How Tam said if you are good at your job the money will come.
• I liked how the first lady who spoke could relate to a lot of us in here, and visa versa. She inspired me because she started out like a lot of us here. I heard her say how if you want to be an accountant you don't have to be good at math necessarily. That was my main setback, because math is my worst subject. Also, Tam mentioned to know what is going on in the world and that is true. I would attend any ignite event. If you are good at what you do the money will come.
• I loved hearing how the women got to where they are now.
• How this program makes you motivated about being in a technical program.
• When the girl was talking about how she had got into the field, it was my favorite part. I liked hearing about the money.
• I learned to be the best at what you do and you will get something in return.
• I loved hearing how these women got into their fields.
• I liked when you talked about your past experiences and how it made you who you are today.
• I like how they explained how women know that there are more men in the tech field. How much technology has changed.
• I liked hearing what experiences they went through.
• I liked everything.
• I liked everything about it.
• I liked that all the women had a story to tell.
• I liked how open the women were. I like learning new info and I was thinking about technology anyway. The most interesting thing I heard today is how everything is copyrighted and how we could sue people for using our work without permission, even with my space.
• I liked the guest speakers and how they talked about their life experiences.
• What I liked about today is the women that came and are happy with what they work in and that they gave us good tips and things to do.
• I loved hearing the women tell us all about their own careers. I appreciated that we got to ask questions and that the women did answer them.
• I liked that the speakers spoke about their lives. It gave me what I want to think about doing in my life. The second speaker, Tam, she was talking about volleyball, and she showed me that I can do something else besides sports. I'd like to listen to more speakers like this. This will inspire me to find what I want to do.
• I liked how the speakers told each of their stories and how they ended up with their careers. I heard that basically there are five types of engineering.
• I learned about how you can be good at things and the money will come to you and you can make it better just by following your dreams.
• I liked the speeches given by the different women with different views on technology.
• The speakers were inspiring.

It was a fantastic IGNITE event and I want to thank everyone for making this possible.

Cathi
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Pictures of the Event