On Friday July 10th, 33 girls, aged 9 to 15 completed the second Girls Get Tech (GGETT) Camp. They held a display highlighting the work they accomplished during the 4 previous days. The projects included “brush bots”, electronic circuits, wooden bookends or puzzles, design challenges and work on the CS-First coding program. The Minister of Social Development, the Honorable Evans Mcneil Rogers, presented the participants with certificates of completion. During his remarks, he encouraged the girls to continue learning in the areas covered: Woodworking, Design, Coding/Programming, Robotics and Electronics. He also promoted the idea that their future and the future of Anguilla was in their hands.
The goal of GGETT Camps is allow the girls to explore technology and non-traditional career areas in the field of STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics). The camp was held at ALHCS workshops. The facilitators were 3 Technical Teachers at ALHCS, a 5th Form student who studied 3 technical areas at ALHCS, and 2 members from the community. One of these members was Jeritza Samuel, an employee of ANGLEC, who was graciously released her for the week to help out at the camp. This allowed the girls to see a woman currently working in a non-traditional area.
The first GGETT (was in December) and this one were completely funded by the Caribbean Development Bank. Anguilla is the first island to receive funding for this type of camp and interest has been shown around the Caribbean. Based on the positive response from the participants, and their parents/guardians, there is a demand for more camps, as well as an advanced camp where the girls can build on their previous skills.
The TVET Coordinator will be writing a manual about running this camp. If anyone wishes further information, they can contact her at Janis.mckeag@doe.edu.ai
– Contributed
