FAQ’s for Educators

ChickTech: High School revolves around creating events that will get high schoolers interested and excited about technology. These events pose some interesting challenges, as we expect that most of our participants have never had a chance to do anything like what we are offering. Our goal is to reach the girls who would make great engineers, but because of stereotypes and a lack of opportunity, may not realize it until they are already doing something else, if at all. We also strive to show the relevance of each workshop to their lives–and help them to understand that they have the ability use tech to transform their world!

ChickTech is not an alternative education setting, it is meant to supplement a girl’s education by showing her what a career in tech would entail. Girls can attend any of the workshops they’d like throughout December 2017 until June 2018. (also scheduled on weekends so as to not interfere with school or extracurricular activities).

Our program provides a fun, positive learning experience designed to build participants’ confidence in their technical abilities, provide them with positive role models, help them create connections with other young women from their community, and create a positive association with technology creation.

ChickTech High School is 100% free for the attending girls. We will cover the costs for the workshops, transportation and food.

Absolutely! We’d love if you could get one of your homeschool network parents to nominate your daughter if possible though. The vote of confidence from someone other than a parent is very important to our process.

The first workshop is in December 2017. There will be 8 workshops, with the last one in June 2018.

Monthly workshops will take place at a local university campus or other venue. ChickTech will provide transportation.

• 8x Expert-led workshops from December 2017 until June 2018
• Saturdays, 9am – 5pm
• Transportation to and from Houston location
• Lunch / Snacks
• ChickTech T-shirt

PLUS the three girls with the highest participation rate will be offered an internship with a major Houston STEM company! (Juniors/Seniors only)

Any high school student who identifies as a girl is welcome to participate.

None. In fact we strongly encourage the nomination of girls who have never participated in technology programs or classes before. Our goal is to have ⅔ of our participants with no experience, although we would never turn away a registered participant because they do have experience!

Girls are all nominated by an educator. We are looking for girls who would not find tech on their own, girls who might never think of a career in tech on their own. We want educators to nominate these girls so that they see that someone believe in them and that they can follow any career path – even the one they never considered before.

A crucial aspect of our program is finding young women who would not otherwise have thought of themselves as capable of succeeding in a high tech career.  As educators (teachers, troop leaders, mentors, etc), many of you have seen young women not reach their potential in STEM because they thought it was too difficult—or it wasn’t what they’ve seen women do.  By asking educators to hand-select our participants, we are giving our participants a vote of confidence: people who know them and their abilities have nominated them for this exclusive opportunity!  All of our large events fill up and have waiting lists, so we encourage you to get your list in ASAP so your students’ spaces are reserved.

No you do not. We will accept nominations from mentors, troop leaders, and tutors as well. We are looking for nominations from someone who knows the potential of the girl they are nominating. Just tell us on the nomination form how you know the nominee. If you’re a parent who feels their daughter would be a good fit, please contact us.

Now – November 1st: Educators fill out our nomination form online with the names of up to 15 freshman, sophomores and juniors from your school who:

1. (40%+) are eligible for free or reduced lunch
2. Have an above-average aptitude for math or science, along with creativity and willingness to learn new things
3. Would probably not consider a tech career without extra encouragement
4. (2/3+) have not created technology before (i.e. who are not already on a robotics team, haven’t attended a STEM camp, etc.)

These girls probably:

• have been actively discouraged from a career in tech in the past
• haven’t tried out tech projects because of obstacles in their life
• aren’t confident in their skills

If you do not have the nomination form link, please contact us.

November: Participants register online for the workshops. The events are first come, first served, although we will have a waiting list in case there are cancellations.

December: The first workshop takes place!

November 1st 2017.

ChickTech: High School has shown tremendous results:

• 55% of our participants had no experience creating tech projects before choosing ChickTech
• participants who felt “confident” or “very confident” in their technology skills increased from 27% to 74%
• participants who felt “informed” or “well informed” about technology increased from 46% to 91%
• we increased the number of high school participants who were “interested” or “very interested” in a tech career from 47% to 89% …in only one weekend.

We are always in need of volunteers to help organize and promote our events, lead workshops and raise money to support our programs. See our Volunteers page for more information. As an educator, providing connections to other schools and encouraging them to participate is extremely helpful!