Hi All,

We had a fantastic presentation yesterday at Rainier Beach HS. The presenters did a spectacular job in connecting with the girls. Everyone clearly enjoyed this event. We had fun and laughed together which made this even better. We had a fantastic turnout as well.

I want to thank our speakers, Heather Warncke (Microsoft), Sharon Carroll (Microsoft), Martine Worrall (Synapse), Evelyn Armstrong (Microsoft), and Catherine Weeks (Microsoft). You all did such a great job with the young women and everyone had a good time as well. It was a great event.

Thank you to Jennifer Ritzinger (Microsoft) for your support and encouragement. Jennifer is working on getting more attention for the IGNITE program and I sure do appreciate that. I did a taped interview with her yesterday as did some of the students (http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/WM_IN).

I want to thank the wonderful Barbara Quintana, Career Center Specialist, for making this event so wonderful. The recruitment was great, we had 50 - 60 girls sign up!! We felt so welcome and the room looked wonderful. It was just so great all around. Thank you Barbara for all your hard work and support for the IGNITE program.

Here are the comments from the girls evaluation forms. They always say it best.

• I LIKED EVERYTHING.
• I enjoyed today because I was able to hear from women who actually experience technology.
• The most interesting thing I learned today was what the women do in technology.
• I liked hearing how you all got to where you are today.
• I learned about degrees and what classes to take that I would like.
• I liked how the guest explained themselves.
• I liked everything, they gave a lot of information.
• I liked the information they provided and they were very encouraging.
• I learned how you decide how what goes with what.
• I liked hearing about Mechanical Engineering.
• I enjoyed that a lot of women work on computers.
• Well I liked the fact that you ladies took the time to come to Rainier Beach HS. I love technology and how it works. I loved what I heard. I want to do all the IGNITE events and learn everything there is to know. Thank you !
• I liked that the speakers explained what they do so well. I learned today from the women to enjoy what you do. I want to do more IGNITE events.
• The event was fine. I liked hearing everyone's story on how they got to the point they are at, because if I were to consider this, I would use thieir words wisely. Everyone talked about everything I wanted to know about. The best thing was their stories.
• How this whole thing is for girls, supporting them. I like the whole panel thing, all the information that was given to us. I liked all the fun and how much they enjoyed doing what they do.
• It was personal and we got to ask a lot of questions.
• I loved hearing all the cool jobs that the women do, and how the jobs apply to our everyday life. I want to go to more events like today's meeting.
• I've had a thought in my mind before in trying to get into Microsoft because I love technology and I am always willing to learn more. I thought I wouldn't be able to get that far, but now I think I can do it. I am going to do it. It was so interesting to hear how these women started out.
• I liked everything about it, it was really interesting, I liked how they thought about what I like and how to do it.
• I learned about more opportunities that I could get into. I learned about the internship.
• What I liked it that they came and talked to us. I didn't know how many Engineering jobs there were.
• I liked everything and would like to see more events like this.
• I liked learning about how I can start a future in technology. I am excited about the internship program at Microsoft. I'd like to be an intern and work for Microsoft. It is a dream of mine for a long time.
• I liked how the speakers told us about their different degrees. I liked hearing the first speakers talk about designing cell phones.
• I want to do all the events IGNITE has to offer, Digigirlz, too.
• What I like here is hearing all the different speakers.
• I liked what the women had to say.
• I liked that this program is for girls.
• I liked how there was people who talked about the jobs and answered the questions in ways we understood.
• I liked how they were very inviting when answering our questions.

Thank you all for creating such a successful and fun event.

Sincerely,
Cathi
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