JOHNSTOWN – The Amsterdam-Gloversville-Johnstown branch of the American Association of University Women will hold their fifth annual Tech Savvy Summit for Girls on Tuesday from 8:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Fulton-Montgomery Community College,a news release said.
This year, 180 girls and 22 advisors representing 14 schooldistricts in Hamilton, Fulton and Montgomery counties have registered to attend.
This is the fifth year that the conference, previously the Sister to Sister Summit, will focus on science, technology, engineering and math workshops. This year’s Tech Savvy Summit will provide hands-on experiences in a college environment to give girls the confidence and the motivation they need to take math, science and technology classes in school, the release said.
Those preregistered may pick up packets at the FMCC student union lobby on Tuesday, the day of the event, between 8:15 a.m. and 8:40 a.m., the release said.
The three workshop sessions will take place in the classroom building and library areas. Lunch will be served in the FMCC dining area from 11:55 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. followed by the capnote speaker from 12:30 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. in the theater. The conference will end at 1:30 p.m. Students do not need to bring food or money to the summit, the release said.
Girls registered will attend three workshops during the day. Fifteen workshops are being offered, the release said.
The capnote speaker will be FMCC chemistry instructor Laurie Lazinski.
Prior to joining FMCC’s full-time teaching faculty, Lazinski was an adjunct chemistry instructor at the college and also taught seventh-grade life science at Gloversville Middle School, the release said.
Lazinski earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a biology minor from SUNY Oneonta, a master’s in chemistry from Ohio State University, and a master’s in education from SUNY Albany, the release said.
Her topic “Things Aren’t Always as They Seem” will include interactive demonstrations and a discussion of goals and the journey to reach them. Lazinski will speak in the theater from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
From 10 to 10:35 a.m., there will also be a special session, P-TECH Past, Present and Future, for school chaperones, volunteers and AAUW members. The presentation will include a panel of students who are completing their second year in the new Pathways Through Technology program, along with science teacher Jamie Dickinson who will share information about the underwater robotics challenge, in which the students participated.
P-TECH was designed by the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES in partnership with FMCC to provide an opportunity for selected incoming high school freshmen to graduate from high school with an associate degree in a technology-based field tuition free, the release said.
Guests at the Tech Savvy Summit for Girls include two members of the Adirondack AAUW branch who will travel from Saratoga County to get ideas for holding their own Tech Savvy event, the release said.
Co-chairs for this year’s AAUW Tech Savvy Summit for Girls committee are Linda Bumpus, Liz Russo and Linda Hammond, the release said.
For more information, call Linda Bumpus at 725-1927.
