This event is sold out! You may add your name to a waitlist in the event that someone cancels.
This Fall, 30 6th–8th grade girls will have the opportunity to extend their learning on a half-day of school with a fun three-hour website design workshop on Friday, October 23, 2015, from 12-3 PM at Percy Julian Middle School (416 S. Ridgeland Ave., Oak Park). The Oak Park Education Foundation is organizing the workshop in partnership with local tech company, NowSecure.
This workshop will not only teach the girls about website design, but also show them that there’s a lot of room for creativity in STEM professions. Workshop leader Joni Trythall is a professional NowSecure product designer as well as a co-leader and teacher with the Wilmington, Delaware, Chapter of Girls Develop It, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable opportunities for women interested in learning web and software development.
“I believe that women and girls need a safe, supportive, inspiring and comfortable community to gain the confidence needed to become leaders in the world of tech,” said Joni. “I am committed to doing my part to teach and be a role model for the next generation of girls. Plus I want to show them that it’s fun!”
While Joni is based out of Wilmington, Delaware, her employer NowSecure has made it possible for Joni to share her talents in Oak Park. The $10 per girl event fee will cover participation, a t-shirt and pizza lunch.
The event is being organized by the Oak Park Education Foundation, and the girls will be supported by OPEF VEX Robotics Coordinator Mary Beth Hausken, Julian math teacher Erin Howe, as well as volunteer female high school mentors, and an impressive group of female tech professionals:
- From presenting sponsor NowSecure, an Oak Park-based company that offers a mobile security platform that protects individuals, devices, apps and enterprises, we have the following talented volunteers from all parts of the organization:
- Chee-Young Kim – Co-Founder
- Arti Walker-Peddakotla – Product Manager
- Brooke Kravitz – Designer
- Jessica Davis – Support
- Blagica Bottigliero who is currently Vice President of Digital Media at Metaverse Mod Squad, a company that handles business online communities and customer service questions.
- Rebecca Miller-Webster who is a freelance software engineer. She founded and co-organizes Write/Speak/Code, a conference for women developers teaching the skills to become thought leaders, conference speakers, and open source contributors.