Local Girls Give Technology Camp High Marks

By Susan Coney

Five girls from Newtown recently finished a week at the first Girls Technology Camp at Fairfield University hosted by National Computer Camps. Michael Zabinski, director of the camp and a physics professor at Fairfield University, was in charge of the weeklong day camp. The camp was funded by sponsorships and grants and was offered to 25 girls from public schools in Norwalk, Bridgeport, Fairfield, Newtown, and Trumbull. The girls were chosen by their school technology teachers and principals after first filling out an application.

Ayesha Dholakia, who will be a seventh grader at Newtown Middle School this fall, said that the technology camp was very challenging, but the counselors made it fun. “It was a great experience and it taught me a lot. Each group of five students had their own counselor that would come around and help you if you got stuck. At the end of the week we all received packets to take home and a disk to use on our home computer. I think the best part was that they taught us how to make our own websites,” Ayesha said.

Classmate Alexandra Grant agreed, saying, “I really learned a lot about the computer. I made my own website and I’ve always wanted to learn to do that. Now my friends can go to my website and visit. I can do a lot of graphics on my computer now. I liked getting to know girls from different towns.”

A closing ceremony was held on the final day of the camp. Each participant received a certificate of completion and a few special awards were presented. Ayesha received a trophy for Excellence in Logic.

Ken Royal, technology teacher at Reed Intermediate School, played a part by recommending students to participate in the program. He commented that all the girls had a great time. “They made their own websites and were taught Q Basic, Flash, Adobe 7, and many other things,” Mr Royal said.

Alexandra’s mother, Amy Grant, said, “The focus of the camp was to get the numbers of girls involved in technology up. This is one of the first all-girl technology camps offered. The discrepancy in the percentage of males to females who are involved in technology is still huge. The girls really enjoyed it and certainly learned a lot.”