PR-2047
October 7, 2020
AIT to Hold First Girls Tech Bootcamp
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) along with Microsoft, National Dong Hwa University, the Yuan T. Lee Foundation Science Education for All, and the Foundation of Scholarly Exchange (FSE) will host the first Girls Tech Bootcamp from October 9 to October 11, 2020 at National Dong Hwa University.
The three-day intensive camp is the first of its kind that AIT has offered exclusively to high school female students. Participants include thirty high school girls from the east coast of Taiwan and thirty from other cities. During the first part of the camp, participants will have the opportunity to engage with a State Department English Language Fellow alumnus and Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETA) to learn STEM English. The second part of learning will be provided by Microsoft Minecraft instructors, alumni of U.S. State Department exchange programs, and the founder of Not Impossible Labs, a nonprofit organization that develops creative solutions to real-world problems. (The Hualien ETA Program is jointly instituted by the Department of Education, Hualien County Government, FSE and Formosa Plastics & Wang Chang-Gung Charitable Trust Fund.)
The AIT Girls Tech Bootcamp aims to empower high school girls via STEM elements, while providing them opportunities to develop their leadership skills. At the end of Bootcamp, participants will be asked to make presentations highlighting what they have learned.
The camp is part of AIT’s ongoing effort to engage youth in Taiwan, and all expenses for the three-day camp are covered by AIT and its partners. “We are delighted to see 60 potential high school girls from different cities of Taiwan participating in this camp. We hope this camp could help them to engage in their local communities and inspire them to pursue STEM education opportunities,” says AIT Cultural Affairs Officer Luke Martin.
Shared values form the foundation of the U.S.-Taiwan partnership. Among those shared values are our dedication to academic freedom and the belief that persons of all genders should have equal access to professional and educational opportunities. Additionally, the United States and Taiwan believe that our democratic values are best served by informed and robust civic participation. We hope that this program will advance these shared values.
