Techno Girls aims to engage more girls in STEM at Huntsville High School

By Brianna Todd

For years, Huntsville High School (HHS) has been striving for equality within the school’s tech programs. The outreach has been primarily towards girls. Starting in grade seven, there are programs specifically made to immerse girls early into this field of study that is male dominated.

The main goal is to increase the number of girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs. “In places where you see more of a diverse workforce, you see improved productivity,” said Ian McTavish, head of the Techno Girls group at Huntsville High School. They are working toward introducing girls to these programs so they can become more comfortable in the STEM fields in the future. “We have girls-only grade nine tech classes, so that when the girls come into these courses they feel more comfortable when getting introduced to these areas,” said McTavish.

We see a positive outcome with these programs with a few girls from HHS going to university for engineering. Alora Hunnighan, a current HHS grade 11 student in the Techno Girls program, said the program has helped her for the better. “It’s helped me make new friends since I moved here last year, and I’ve gained a lot of new opportunities from it,” said Hunnighan. “It’s given me a lot of freedom to show what I am made of, not only to myself but for college applications and for different opportunities around Huntsville.”

This program is for all girls, grades nine to 12 and some schools even have the program available to girls in grades seven and eight. The school encourages girls to come out and dip their toes in the experience.

“Join Techno Girls! It’s a great program, and I’ve made a lot of new friends through it and found a new passion for computer science on the way through,” said Hunnighan.

We hope to see the STEM fields showing more diversity, more potential and the Techno Girls appearing throughout history that has yet to be made!

About Brianna Todd

Born and raised in Huntsville. Always playing the devil’s advocate. Restless and in desperate need of adventure. Constantly need tea or pizza. If you can’t find me I’m probably lost in Netflix… or actually lost. I love our small town and am dedicated to showing others just how great it is.

Briannna is a co-op student at Huntsville High School.

 

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