Inspiring Girls In Computer Science – A National Computer Science Education Week Event – The Chattanoogan
In honor of National Computer Science Education Week which is Dec. 5 to 11, Girls Inc. of Chattanooga hosted a special event to introduce 30+ girls to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) and Computer Science (CS) concepts. The girls in grades 1st through 8th from various schools in Hamilton County were able to interact with unique healthcare technology, participate in a CS activity on encryption, and hear from special guests.
Special guests, Audra Block, Director of STE(A)M and Computer Science for the Tennessee Department of Education, and Hamilton County Mayor, Weston Wamp spoke to the girls about their work and encouraged them to pursue STEM subjects and careers here locally. The event brought together many innovative leaders in education to get more girls interested in the high-demand STEM and CS careers and healthcare.
The girls got to experience the medical technology brought and facilitated by three female nurses and staff from the Erlanger Health System. The girls touched and saw the capabilities of a full-body trauma patient simulator and used a Telesitter to speak virtually with staff at the hospital. They were very excited by the innovative equipment and hearing about the impact the Erlanger women have on those in their community.
Chattanooga-based Thinking Media CEO Sheila Boyington spoke to the girls about her experience as an engineer and then introduced the Learning Blade team did lessons on Information Security Analysts with an encryption activity highlighting the connection between computer science and healthcare. The girls took sample messages that might be sent between doctors and patients and encrypted them with a secret code to model the process of secure digital communication and the importance of keeping your personal information safe. Learning Blade provided Girls inc. with 3D-printed lock boxes and keys to model the process of public key encryption and private key decryption. Each girl was able to take home their own 3D-printed key as a memento of the lesson.
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