When Mrs. Reid (a computer science and math teacher here at Lincoln) heard about the Women In Tech (WIT) High School Trainee Program of 2017 at LinkedIn she was overcome with excitement. Immediately her mind jumped to four promising students in her AP Computer Science class: Maddy Cava, Cecilia Diaz, Cielo Pano, and Diana Olivares.

Mrs. Reid recommended the girl’s to the program, which was started in 2015, is a physical test of the hypothesis that if young women were introduced to code in high  school they would be more likely to pursue and excel in their selected fields of study in college. Each applicant must apply and be interviewed for both the technical work and behavior before accepted into the competitive an highly selective program. Applicants were recommended to WIT program from several local high-school campuses. The program is demanding clocking in at 32 hours a week for 7 weeks, however it is paid a weighty $23 an hour (almost twice minimum wage).

The program teaches problem solving and collaboration in small groups, each group being led by a mentor to help guide students throughout the duration of their training. In 2015 shortly after concluding the program 100%  students declared a STEM major and all agreed that the program was well worth their galliant effort. When LinkedIn checked in on their alumna they found that all of their 2015 students were studying computer science at a University level, a very challenging feat.

When speaking to the four girls in the program all bashfully smiled and expressed their nerves going into the program. “It’s such a great opportunity you know? I hope I can do what they ask me to.” said Maddy Cava blushing. “I wasn’t even going to do it until Mrs. Reid called my parents to force me to, but I’m glad I’m doing it. It’s really going to help me decide on a major and show me if computer science is something I even want to pursue,” continued Cava.

“I really like computer science because it’s something anyone can do. It’s like my math class we’re all at different levels but we culminate to make this awesome class that almost everyone is excelling in. I’m proud to be apart of this, it feels like a new accomplishment.” says Diana Oilvares who was beaming for the duration of her interview.

“It’s just exciting really, really exciting,” smiled Diana. Ladies we are just as excited as you are and we can’t wait to see where your tech in devours will lead you. Go Lions!