Tesla STEM High School student heads to We Day to encourage girls to code | GUEST COLUMN

Published 10:49 am Friday, April 17, 2015

Alka Pai, a senior at Redmond’s Tesla STEM High School, is on a mission.

“Women are underrepresented in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields,” she explains. “We face this issue even in one of the most forward-thinking, modern communities in the world.”

Last year, Pai won a grant to do something about that. With $3,000 from the National Center for Women and Information Technology, she founded STEM Reach and recruited 10 girls in her class to teach introductory computer science to girls at five local middle schools. Their 75 pupils then came to Telsa STEM High School to showcase video games and other programs they created using their new skills.

“A parent thanked me for giving his daughter the opportunity to develop an interest in a field his child never thought of as one ‘intended for girls,’” Pai reports. Shortly after the event, she received requests from other schools to bring STEM Reach to their campuses, helping her fully realize the impact she’d made on her community. “Being able to make a positive change in my community felt great, and introducing and encouraging girls to explore a new subject felt even better.”

Having personally seen countless ways that young people have used technology to make the world a better place, I found Pai’s story inspiring. At Microsoft, we were so impressed by her leadership that we asked her to help us spread the word about the power one young person can have in their community at We Day Seattle, the stadium-sized celebration of youth empowerment that we sponsor.

On April 23, 15,000 local students will fill KeyArena to hear from celebrities and social activists to encourage them to continue serving their community. Middle and high school students earn their tickets by committing to take action on local and global causes of their choice.

The nonprofit Free The Children established We Day to inspire young people about social causes and provide practical tools to turn that inspiration into action. In just a few short years, We Day has had a profound impact on millions of young people — mobilizing them to take action to improve their communities and the world.

Through our YouthSpark Initiative, Microsoft sponsors We Day to reach teens with a simple message: you can be creators, not just users, of technology. And like Pai, they can use technology skills to help others.

“Being given the opportunity to attend We Day Seattle is an honor,” Pai said. “To be in an environment where everyone around me shares my passion for community service and public good will be amazing, and I’m sure that after the event I’ll only be more inspired to continue giving back.”

There are many young people who, like Pai, have the ability to use technology to help others. That’s why sparking interest in computer science early in a young person’s life is a major focus for the technology industry. Every nonprofit, government agency and company has a growing need for those who understand how technology works.

“As the world becomes more technology-oriented, it’s becoming more important for all people to understand the basics of coding, because it is an integral part of everyone’s lifestyle,” Pai says. “Programming allows people to reach communities of millions of people with just a few lines of code, and solves the most challenging of problems faster than ever.”

That’s the message we’re spreading at We Day and beyond. Learn more at www.microsoft.com/youthsparkhub.

Lori Forte Harnick is general manager of Microsoft Global Citizenship and Public Affairs.