Girls in Tech

 We are continuing to match the demand we have in the classes with the programs we are providing. 

Over the past months we have introduced our program to new homes and continue to send out more computers to new homes as well as homes who have requested additional computers.

We are always pleased to see that although in the past, our classes were predominantly attended by the young boys, that we have over 50% attendance now of girls in every class that we have.

We have introduced more to English online, coding for IchigoJam as well as Sphero ball. In addition to the financial literacy training and career assessment tests, we have more female role models in the industry who are volunteering thier time as mentors as well as teachers.

Especially in what we experienced last year, the opportunities in tech jobs going forward will not only increase but be more interesting and broad. We are hoping that by having consistent time with the students weekly, we will help lead them to opportunitiies which will encourage them in their career choices.

Thank you again for your support.

YouMeWe NPO

Dear Friend,

If you are receiving this then you too understand the importance of encouraging girls in tech. When we started in this space by nature of the male roles in the homes, it was generally the younger boys who were taking the lead to also take part.

For the homes with women leaders or caregivers, like the nuns at St.Francis or St.Joseph's you see more girls being encouraged and now our classes are generally 50:50 if not a majority being attended by the young ladies.

When we have female volunteers or guests, I see a dramatic change in enthusiasm and much more engagement.

None of these children had a say in how their lives started but they, with your help as a counselor or mentor or coach, can help them figure out how they want their lives to end up.

Whether that be working with us to look at their SMART goals or connecting with one of the children one on one, they need these personal, human connections in order to find more meaning to their lives and what they are doing with YouMeWe.

In the photos you are able to see how coding with IchigoJam was introduced, we showed them the world of Virtual Reality with OCULUS as we feel these are examples of 21st century learning skills for the jobs which are waiting for them in the future.

If you are interested in participating in their career plans and life plans, please contact us at volunteers@youmewenpo.org.

Thank you,

Michael Clemons

We have had a challenging time with COVID 19 in 2020 but through either online lessons through SKYPE or now face-to-face meetings with social distancing and masks we have slowly been able to reconnect with the children.

Specifically, from May 27 until September 3rd, we had the Global Challenge of the children in the homes walking around the earth virtually for 100 days. With 161 members of children, staff, volunteers, and donors we were able to clock 10,000 steps a day each and the 23 teams received history and geography lessons each time they logged their steps.

We had female volunteers join us for the IT departments of one of several donors where they work with the girls who come to our Digital Citizenship classes on Mondays at St.Francis. We are also working on an online CODE CLUB idea as well as teaching English remotely.

We feel that starting the young girls with our English courses initially will motivate them to pursue more experiences in tech as well as explore the possibilities available to them in 21st-century learning and jobs.

To quote Melinda Gates:

Links:

• Yamakawa sensei of Matsubaen describes the interactions with NPO
• Michael Clemons, Founder explains about CityZens project

Children born in the 21st century will most likely live until the 22nd century. What can we, as teachers, can we possibly teach them for their futures?

While the technology which they will utilize is unknown because much like the jobs yet to come in this 21st century, none of it has been invented yet.

What matters, then the only thing that matters, are the skills that are timeless. Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity. We embrace this foundation our program as we embark on the journey to teach children about how to figure out not so much the yes or no answers; but the unknown. How to find the right answers, how to deduce information, and in a safe environment empowers them to learn in the way children want to learn. In a fun and curious manner.

YouMeWe has always been open for all children to dive into the infinite of the technical world as Digital Citizens and increasingly we cannot afford how this opportunity is appealing for young women as much as it is for the young men.

In many cases, our classes are being crowded out by the girls who look forward to being in front of the keyboard. While currently, we are focused on language lessons, we will be introducing more on coding and highlight the young ladies what a future in tech holds for them as they go along their digital journey.

The introduction of technology will create more jobs, not less. The infrastructure to allow 5G then 6G and the software development to bring all 7 billion people online experience the human experience together means more voices, more opinions, and solutions to common problems we all share with our children on this one planet.

Thank you for your support.