More than 100 area high school girls learned about careers in information technology Friday and got two messages loud and clear: They're not just for boys and they're not so boring after all.
Washington State Community College's first We Are IT Day drew 110 sophomore girls from Fort Frye, Warren, Waterford, Morgan and Meigs high schools and exposed them to different aspects of IT, from Web design to programming. More than 20 sites across Ohio also played host to the program.
"I didn't think it would be anything like what it is," said Waterford sophomore Kristen Trent, 15. "It's really interesting, and there's much more to it than I thought."
The goal of the day was to get more female students thinking that way, said Esther Salem, assistant professor of computer systems technology at Washington State.
"The field is so heavily slanted in population to men, and it's one of the fastest growing occupation fields - in the top 10," she said. "There are plenty of career opportunities, but for some reason girls don't think it's for them."
A Washington State student helper in the "You Program Like A Girl" session Friday is one of only two women taking her college course, said instructor Karen Poorman.
"When she goes to class, it's her and all of the guys," she said. "We see it in our classes and then in the workforce. We wants to see some more girls get involved."
In six different sessions Friday, students had the chance to edit photos, create and play a computer game, learn about network security and design unique vases on the computer.
"A lot of them didn't know what IT really was," said Salem. "They have this stereotype in their head of some geeky person with a pocket protector. We wanted to show them that it can be fun."
Local women in the field also joined the 10th-graders for lunch and shared stories and advice getting into information technology.
"The thing I love the most about my job is that it changes all the time," said Susan Huck, IT director at Woodcraft Supply. "You'll never, ever get bored. You've always got to keep up and you're always learning."
Morgan High School sophomore Cassie Copeland said that while she liked computers she had always fallen into the trap of thinking IT and engineering fields weren't for girls.
Friday's experiences changed her mind, she said.
"More girls should be interested in this," said Copeland, 15. "I thought it was cool that there was even a girl teaching it. It shouldn't be just guys."
