GET-IT stands for Girls Exploring Together – Information Technology. It is an after-school team activity designed to encourage middle and high school girls (grades 4 – 12) to consider and ultimately pursue a career in information technology. The program runs from September through the end of the school year.
Students involved in the program explore a growing career field while enhancing their math and science skills, and confidence. GET-IT helps prepare them for college, strengthening teamwork, problem-solving, and organization abilities.
Benefits to students:
- Hands-on Technology Education: web design, coding, mobile application creation, robotics, and more!
- Web Design Contest: Use of HTML coding to create web pages for our annual Website Design Competition. Judges from the IT community award prizes to the winners.
- Robotics: Participation in Robofest, a Lego Robotics competition sponsored by Lawrence Technological University.
- Business Speakers: Scheduling speakers, with help from MCWT, to visit and provide perspective on the real-world applications of IT. All speakers are successful business professionals at various stages of their careers.
- Field Trips: Students visit some of the top Michigan-based companies utilizing state-of-the-art technology and gain exposure to top professionals working in the field.
- Other Flexible Programs: Expansion of program offerings based on student interests, such as design patent projects and job shadowing.
How Schools Can Support:
To support a GET-IT club at a school, a school must follow these requirements:
- There must be a faculty advisor.
- There must be a location for regular meetings.
- Ideally, there is a computer lab where work sessions and classes can be held.
- All students are asked to sign a press and photo release form.
The amount of time required of faculty advisors varies on the level of involvement they choose. An hour-long weekly meeting is generally sufficient, except during the competition period when several longer meetings may be needed. At the end of the school year, advisors must develop a final report summarizing GET-IT activities and the use of MCWT Foundation funds.
Contact Nitza Harpe at nitza.harpe@mcwt.org with any concerns or questions.
To stay up to date, we encourage you to subscribe to our K-12 Newsletter here.
At MCWT, we are dedicated to inspiring and assisting girls in Michigan to pursue technology education and careers.
