Hi All,

What a wonderful event we had yesterday ! It is such an amazing experience to witness these great events. It takes so many extraordinary people to make this happen. I want to thank all of them and show everyone that it does take a small village to help our girls, and that is what we are doing!!

We had such a terrific turnout at this event, and every seat was full. The girls asked such insightful questions of the women and as usual we went over time to try and answer all of the questions they had. It is clear during the question and answer session how much the girls really appreciate the women and all of their life experience and knowledge. They also appreciate how much it means to have the women there so willing to help them and answer their questions in such a real and thoughtful way. Hearing the women's stories transports all of us to a deeper understanding of the importance of this event. We want the girls to know that they can accomplish whatever they set out to do, and by hearing these stories, they realize we are all the same. It takes passion, drive and perseverance, and most of all belief in ourselves to make it anywhere we can dream. The women on yesterday's panel and frankly all the panels we do, really personify that dream in their stories, by telling how they overcame any and all obstacles to become whatever they set out to do. It is just so amazing to witness this magic for the girls each and every time. I really want to take time to thank all of the people who take part in this ignite experience to make this happen.

Thank you first to all the awesome women on yesterday's panel. Linda Thomas, Chemical, Mechanical and currently Safety Engineer, Boeing; and Governor of Society of Women Engineers for the Pacific Northwest. Thank you linda for bringing those great prizes to the girls who asked questions and they were really fun prizes, my favorite being the tee-shirt, a girls image on one side and on the other it said Engineer! Loved it!! And a great link to an inspiring Girls in Engineering website. We will be linking to that very soon. Thank you to Marta Smith, Software Test Manager, Microsoft, great job Marta!! Thank you to Rebecca Grant, Engineer, Boeing; and your story really touched everyone, you could hear a pin drop, by sharing your personal journey, it was clear how many girls really connected and understood how they could do it too, thank you Rebecca! Thank you to Chari Morton, Legal Dept, Microsoft, thank you Chari for making Microsoft a dream all the girls know now they can do, you open those doors wide for them. Thank you !!!! Thank you to Tammy Wooley Security Programming Writer, Microsoft. Thank you Tammy for your great job in connecting with the girls! And thank you to our new IGNITE volunteer Molly Wesling, Product Manager for Release Services, Microsoft. It is such a great pleasure to have you on board Molly. Welcome to IGNITE Molly!! Molly's wonderful husband teaches at Sealth, John Starks, World Cultures. He left Microsoft to come back to teaching!! WE are so lucky to have him too. HE is such a passionate teacher, and he encouraged Molly to try out IGNITE and I think now she is hooked!! Molly you did such a great job with the girls, really connecting with them and caring so much. Molly has also agreed to adopt the Sealth girls and do a job shadow later in the year with her Department. Thank you Molly we are so grateful.

What an amazing panel and as always it is really an event to remember.

I want to thank the staff from the Seattle District and Sealth who made this event possible. WE could not do IGNITE year after year if not for Shirley Osara. Shirley works in the Main Office and runs different groups at Sealth and we are so grateful to her for her passion and dedication to running the IGNITE Sealth Chapter all these years. WE love you Shirley. and Thank you so much! Thank you to Sam Reed, Web Design Teacher, first year teacher and already much loved by staff and students. Sam joined IGNITE enthusiastically from the moment I mentioned it. Thank you so much for your support. I also want to thank the staff who does support us at Sealth, Vice Principal Angie Thomas, Career Specialist MaryAnne Derige, who is now on board, congratulations!!, And to the great librarian, Katie Hubert who made us feel so welcome and that great and beautiful library, thank you so much, and to Jol Raymond, Head Counselor, great supporter all these years. AS you all can see we have great support at Sealth, and we love it!! Thank you all for being such great IGNITE partners.

We have a new component to IGNITE this year!! It is very exciting, I want to introduce Lilna Given-Williams,. She is a Marketing teacher and a Work Based Learning Coordinator in the school district and been involved in IGNITE since the beginning. This year we have Lilna devoted to getting IGNITE girls school credit for their involvement with IGNITE. She and I are working together to make sure the girls get signed up. We are so excited about this new component and thank you Lilna for making this possible .

Here's the comments from the girls evaluation sheets about the event.

• I liked how everyone told their story, I think it was very interesting. I think the most interesting thing I heard today is that you don't have to take no for an answer. You can do anything you put your mind to.
• I liked how some of the women in the panel are undecided of what they want to do for a career. I kind of related to them. I thought it was very interesting that some of the women started with nothing at all, and then years later they have big paying jobs in technology which is nice.
• I liked the guests and their stories and how they shared about their technology history. You earn a lot of money for being an engineer. Also I learned not to take no for an answer. Take all the math and science that is possible.
• I liked how we could ask questions and they answer, and also how most of them came from people doubting them, and I really understand that. One of the ladies not knowing how to read, she finally got at a 12th grade level at 40 years old. It was very inspiring to me.
• One of the speakers told us about how she could not read as good as the others and still you go for what you want and don't let nobody stop you for doing what you want.
• If you turn in an application don't give up, and if they say you are not suitable for the job keep your head up and not give up and you might get the job. I want to do more!
• I really loved how the women came out of their way to come and speak in front of us to do what we have to do to succeed with our careers. I loved hearing about the job where she gets to chat with people online and get paid for it. I know there is more to it, but I still like the job :) I really look forward to doing more .
• I enjoyed listening to the lives of successful women. I got to know a little bit more about the steps and experiences I may go through, if I pursue a technical degree. I look forward to more Ignite events.
• I liked when the women were telling their stories. It was also great to do questions and answers, it was a great event.
• Meeting and learning so much about technology and these companies Microsoft and Boeing. Nothing can stop you if you are determined.
• I liked all the information I gained from listening to the different speakers. I really liked hearing about the lady who has dyslexia but pushed herself to do whatever she wanted.
• I liked how open each speaker was. It made me feel as if I knew them. that I could be a friend with them. How young they were and how far in their career they were.
• I liked how we were able to ask questions and it was very interactive. Many of these women didn't have "appropriate" college degrees for the fields they've excelled in, but they found classes to acquire new skills. They also never said or let anyone else say no.
• I like how we learned about all the things you can do like earn a lot of money. Also how you can travel with out having to ask nobody but your managers, Your independent. You can become something big. I think this event is fine, it does not need improvement.
• I was able to learn more about engineering because I was not sure what it was about before or what engineers do. These companies will pay for you to take classes.
• I really enjoyed the feeling of confirmation in that my passions could get me to where I want to go. I learned information about the women's jobs day to day. I wish it was longer!!
• Everyone had a passionate personality, it was great. I learned that I do not have to be a rocket scientist to be able to have a technical career.
• I really enjoyed learning about the salary and how many opportunities there are. It was really inspiring to learn that a women with dyslexia could be an engineer and get such a good job. More time!
• My favorite part was that all the guests explained what they do and what jobs they have. You can get a technical career in all kinds of ways.
• I really liked that all of the panel was all women. I also liked that they all gave their story. I really learned a lot. That they can be independent and afford to take care of themselves, it was interesting to hear that. More time!
• I liked talking to all the women and getting the questions I had answered. I learned about so many jobs in engineering. More time to talk to the ladies.
• It was interesting hearing about all of the different stories. At first all of them didn't really want to do the things they are doing now and how they really enjoy it.
• I liked listening to the women's stories on how they got to where they are today. Thank you for the pizza :) I learned that these companies will pay for classes and more education.
• My favorite part was the presentation and explanations of the job descriptions.
• What I liked best was seeing and meeting the women who have very important technical careers. To hear about their everyday life gave me more of an idea of how it would be if I choose a technical career. That not very many women have great jobs as engineers or work in technical fields because mostly men go after these jobs. It was a great event. More events like this one.
• It was great how different women shared different fields of work. What they do helps my understand there are more options to grip. You can have a life while working and getting paid. I look forward to more IGNITE events.

Thank you all for making this event possible,
Cathi