HI All,

We had a fabulous day out at Microsoft. It was such a fun time and a great group of young women. We were able to tour the Microsoft Home of the Future and the Global Network Operations Center. We were so welcome at both sites and everyone really made it such a special experience.

I want to thank Mylene Padolina and Janice Hunter from Diversity for making this experience possible for our students. It is always such a great time and everything is just perfect. Thank you !!

I want to thank the wonderful women at the Microsoft Home of the Future, our wonderful tour leader Flora Goldthwaithe and the great welcome from Julie Brown and Leah Devine. We always have such a great experience at the Home. Thank you for all the care and attention you give to the young women attending. They loved it and loved Flora!!

Thank you to the wonderful women who made us so welcome at the Global Network Operations Center, Karen Miller (Manager of the Operations Center), Raelene Sanders, and Linda Till. You all did such a wonderful job connecting with the girls and really helping them understand the very complex networking world. You really took time to carefully answer all the questions and start from the beginning, so every student understood what they see. Thank you so much for making us feel so welcome and cared about.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who attended the panel and discussion lunch. You all did such a wonderful job connecting with the young women and creating a great experience. Thank you to Kristi Edwards, Maureen Hoiseck, Katherine Merrick, Crystal Hoyer, Cathy Moya, Betsy Norton-Middaugh, Sergey Solyanik, Catherine Weeks, and Raelene Sanders. What an amazing turnout!!

Thank you to the wonderful Seattle School District staff who provides such great support to all the young women in IGNITE. Thank you to Shirley Osara, Taleaha Bradley, and Jessica Jacklett. You're great support makes the IGNITE program such a great success.

Here are the comments from the girls evalution forms, they always say it best.

• I really liked meeting the employees up front. It was really interesting and inspiring to iisten to their stories.
• I liked how the people at Microsoft were so welcoming and they gave me so much information.
• I really enjoyed hearing everyone's experience in becoming workers at Microsoft and how their stories had gotten them so far.
• I have learned that if you really want to pursue in anything you just have to put your mind and heart into it.
• I liked how we heard about the different jobs and parts of Microsoft from volunteers who came to talk to us. The different jobs you can get here was interesting.
• I really enjoyed the question and answer session. I think a longer and more through tour would make this event even better. I really was unaware just how much opportunity there is out there, especially for young women.
• I liked the House of the Future.
• The speakers were great, and I really enjoyed the program. They had a lot of information to give and it was wonderful.
• How you can relate anything into technology. I wish there were internships during the school year.
• I really liked the tour. I wish we had more time. It was a great day.
• I really enjoyed talking with the employees.
• I liked being able to ask questions to people who worked at Microsoft for such a long time. I heard how important first impressions are.
• I liked the story that was told about how some of the people got to where they are today.
• I liked the guest speakers, they were really good. I learned to never give up.
• I liked getting a tour and getting to hear the people speak. I liked learning about the internship program.
• I loved how we learned about computer networking. I never really understood it but now it really makes sense.
• It was interesting to hear how many people self taught themselves about computers.
• I am really interested in Digigirlz and the internship program.
• I liked what I learned today.
• I loved the fact that we got question and answer time.
• I really liked the panel discussion because it was an opportunity to hear employees and how they feel about their careers.
• I really thought it was interesting that you can have many different types of skill and interests to be hired by a company like Microsoft.
• Home of the Future was great!!
• I liked talking in small groups wit someone who works here because it was not only a chance to ask questions but also to talk with them about their jobs. I would like to apply for the internship and do a job shadow to get closer to seeing technology jobs everyday.
• What I liked best about today's event was meeting people that are experts in different fields of technology. I learned that I could have another type of degree and still work in technology.
• What I liked about today's event was that I saw so many amazing things that caught my eyes.
• I heard that you can choose any type of field that you are interested in.
• I liked how the speakers got to interact with the girls. We had a lot of good questions and they answered to their best ability. I wish we had more time.
• I thought the types of people that the speakers were looking for was very interesting.
• During today's event I enjoyed going into the House of the Future. It contains mostly what I thought the House would be like in the Future. but some things I did not expect to see were created and I was surprised and impressed.
• I loved networking with the pro's.
• I loved hearing the different stories. I want to go to Digigirlz.
• I liked the down to earth attitude of the ladies. I had all my questions answered.
• I liked the guest speakers, they presented many great information.

Thank you all for such a fantastic experience!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone!!
Cathi
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