Students get up-close look at women in technology at Shelby event

SHELBY -- St. Peter's High School junior Monique Fahmy said working in animation was confusing.
Lynn Damberger, assistant professor of digital media technology at North Central State College, disagreed.
"She said she was confused?" Damberger asked. "She's the master." Fahmy and about 100 other girls from area high schools participated in "We Are IT" on Friday at the Kehoe Center in Shelby.
The program, which promoted women in technology careers, included speakers who are industry specialists and hands-on activities that explored various technologies in the job market.
Nine classes were offered, including energy alternatives, speech recognition, programming, medical technology, drafting and design and animation.
Damberger, who teaches graphic imaging and multi-media technology, said half of the 29 schools in the area participated. She taught the "Let's Get Animated" workshop and showed students the principles of animation while they followed on computers.
"Women have an advantage in this field, because we are less colorblind. Eight percent of men are colorblind," Damberger said. "The average pay for an animator is $57,000."
Students created an animation that featured the sun moving up and down on the screen. They added a house, flowers, a road with a car and other images.
Northmor High School sophomore Stephanie Ruhl said she signed up for the conference "because I like doing things with technology and science."
"I learned how to animate and make a sun rise," the 15-year-old said of her first attempt. "I want to learn anything I can learn."
Fahmy, 16, said she had tried video editing, but never animation.
"Technology really interests me," she said.
Thad Stevens, a Lexington High School and Pioneer Career and Technology senior, volunteered at the conference by helping guide students to each of their classes.
"I wanted to come and see what animation is all about," he said. "I think it's good they're reaching out to girls. There aren't many girls in the classes. Girls could probably do the work better than me."
Charla Wurm, an NCSC broadcasting major, ran the "On the Air" workshop. Each student got a chance to be the interviewer, the person being interviewed and the technician. They also got to hear themselves afterward.
"It's important to speak clearly and articulate the words," Wurm told the girls.
Hannah Westfall, 16, said she was excited to learn about radio production.
"I think computer stuff is cool. I'm nerdy that way," the Ashland High School sophomore said.
Students in the "Mad Hatting with Alice" class had some added fun in an unexpected form.
Gina Kamwithi, director of NCSC's Distance Learning Department, had her students teach her to "Crank Dat" by Soulja Boy. The line dance is popular with many children and adults.
"I did the activity to teach them the importance of being specific as a programmer," she said. "In programming, you have to use the proper syntax tags and be very specific."
Crestline High School sophomore Zuri Birmingham had fun teaching Kamwithi to "Crank Dat."
"It's neat way to incorporate music with the programming," the 15-year-old said. "It's a more fun way to learn by incorporating stuff from pop culture."
Source: mansfieldnewsjournal.com