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Girls and technology.


Girls and shop don't necessarily mix. The Minot (N.D.) Public School District transformed its stereotypical guy zone' vocational building into a more equitable space by launching programs to recruit girls for nontraditional programs like auto tech, welding welding, process for joining separate pieces of metal in a continuous metallic bond. Cold-pressure welding is accomplished by the application of high pressure at room temperature; forge welding (forging) is done by means of hammering, with the addition of heat.  and information technology. In 2000-01, four fearless females entered the vocational building all year, says Pam Stroklund, career and technical education coordinator for the district. By 2004-05, that number swelled to 20.

Divas take on tech: Define Your Dreams was the district's initial foray into Verb 1. foray into - enter someone else's territory and take spoils; "The pirates raided the coastal villages regularly"
raid

encroach upon, intrude on, obtrude upon, invade - to intrude upon, infringe, encroach on, violate; "This new colleague invades my
 gender-based career programming in 1999. This awareness day motivates 7th and 8th grade girls to explore careers like veterinary medicine veterinary medicine, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of animals. An early interest in animal diseases is found in ancient Greek writings on medicine. Veterinary medicine began to achieve the stature of a science with the organization of the first school in the , engineering and firefighting 1. firefighting - What sysadmins have to do to correct sudden operational problems. An opposite of hacking. "Been hacking your new newsreader?" "No, a power glitch hosed the network and I spent the whole afternoon fighting fires."
2.
. Local professional women share education and salary information.

Gender encouragement: Stroklund encourages presenters to weave gender issues into their talks by focusing on how their gender helped them achieve success and discussing barriers.

Giving guidance: Counselors help girls merge dreams and reality by developing a four-year, high school plan.

DIVA Tech: This Saturday program is designed to recruit 8th to 11th grade girls into the district's trade and technology classes. Girls gain firsthand first·hand  
adj.
Received from the original source: firsthand information.



first
 experience with welding, auto tech and construction as they rotate through several hour-long sessions designed to kindle A portable e-book device from Amazon.com that provides wireless connectivity to Amazon for e-book downloads as well as Wikipedia and search engines. Using Sprint's EV-DO cellphone network, dubbed WhisperNet, wireless access is free. It also includes a built-in dictionary.  nontraditional fires by giving girls a taste of shop.

Getting hooked: Sophomore Alexis Cook admits she did not buy the hype about hands-on activities. But the skeptic was sold after creating welded figures and book shelves to take home.

Reaching out: The district taps into female volunteers to lead sessions, host a Q&A lunch and offer insights into pay, perks perk 1  
v. perked, perk·ing, perks

v.intr.
1. To stick up or jut out: dogs' ears that perk.

2. To carry oneself in a lively and jaunty manner.
 and preparation. The day is timed so that a career counselor can steer students toward appropriate courses in the upcoming school year.

Technology on the go?

This three-day summer techsploration, transports 8th to 11th grade girls into the community to interact with female professionals in coal mines, manufacturing plants and entrepreneurial businesses.

The trickle-down effect This article discusses a marketing phenomenon. For the political term see trickle-down economics.
The trickle-down effect is a marketing phenomenon that affects many consumer goods, including new technology and fashion.
: "There are efforts like this going on across the country. The Perkins Act requires states to make progress attracting and retaining girls in nontraditional programs," says Alisha Hyslop, assistant director of public policy for the Association for Career and Technical Education.

Finding the funds: In 1998, the district applied for and received a $4,500 grant and converted the dollars into Define Your Dreams, the district's first gender equity offering.

More money: The district continued to apply for and receive annual grants and by 2000-01 funding jumped to $7,500, enabling it to expand to three programs annually.

Crucial partnerships: Local partners chip in as well, covering additional costs like food and resource materials.

Clever marketing: The career team promotes gender equity programs in every science class and guidance counselors guidance counselor Child psychology A school worker trained to screen, evaluate and advise students on career and academic matters  reinforce the pitch. Every educator/salesperson advertises the programs as free, complete with hands-on activities, lunch and door prizes.

Keeps them coming back: Students also pitch in, recruiting friends for a day of fun and learning. "Kids keep coming back and the programs are filled every year," reports Superintendent David Looysen.

Not a one-woman job: More than 200 community partners, including the National Guard, local phone company and small business owners, have loaned hands and minds to the Minot district to support its gender equity endeavors.

Boys are not overlooked: DUDE Tech introduces male students in grades 8-11 to careers in culinary arts, horticulture/floral arranging and child care/education during a one-day career awareness program.

Indicators of success: Minot's programs garnered national recognition, winning the Association for Career and Technical Education's 2005 Programs that Work: Preparing Students for Nontraditional Careers Award.

MINOT PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT #1, MINOT, N.D.

No. of schools: 12 elementary, 3 middle, 1 high school, 1 alternative school

No. of teachers: 544

No. of students: 6,286

Ethnicity: White 88%, American Indian American Indian
 or Native American or Amerindian or indigenous American

Any member of the various aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere, with the exception of the Eskimos (Inuit) and the Aleuts.
 5%, Black 3.4%, Asian 1.1%, Other 2.3%

Per-pupil expenditure: $6,500

Dropout (1) On magnetic media, a bit that has lost its strength due to a surface defect or recording malfunction. If the bit is in an audio or video file, it might be detected by the error correction circuitry and either corrected or not, but if not, it is often not noticed by the human  rate: .3% in 2003-2004

Superintendent: Dr. David Looysen, since July 1, 2003

Lisa Fratt is a contributing editor A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. .
COPYRIGHT 2005 Professional Media Group LLC
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2005, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Article Details
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Title Annotation:District Profile: Minot (N.D.) Public School District
Author:Fratt, Lisa
Publication:District Administration
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Sep 1, 2005
Words:652
Previous Article:Reading is fundamental.(Administrator Profile: Catherine Ciarlo)
Next Article:Gifted education: deceived, denied and in crisis: why gifted ed still matters and what you can do to improve your district's offerings.(TREND WATCH)
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