Tech Expo gathers Mat-Su Schools under one roof and calls for more techy girls

WASILLA — About 5,000 people strolled through the annual Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District’s (MSBSD) annual Tech Expo on March 22, hosted by Wasilla High School. According to event coordinator, Brett Hill, this was the largest turnout to date and he is eager to see the Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (S.T.E.M.) synergy of young minds prepare for the next generation and an even more technological age.

“It’s not that we’re abandoning the old curriculum, we’re just preparing for the 21st Century so these kids are prepared,” Hill said.

Robots, virtual reality headsets, simulators, animated movies, hands on CPR with fake 911 calls, and lots of Legos were scattered across the Wasilla High School gymnasium as young techies ardently showed off the labors of their toils and mingled with other stations. About 29 schools participated this year, ranging in grade from elementary to high school. The expo serves two main purposes: one, to give the students an authentic audience, and two, to bring all the school’s tech projects around the district under one roof, Hill said.

“It shows the students how to better their game,” Hill said.

Hill said this showcase of young, tech-savvy minds is a great example for the community to see where their tax dollars are going. He is particularly interested in seeing more women, and particularly young girls, enter the computer sciences, a field in which they are still woefully underrepresented. He said that Alaska’s numbers reflect the nation’s numbers so there needs to be a bigger push for more young girls to jump into a traditionally male-dominated industry. This expo, and continued efforts like those at Girls Who Code — a national program that’s carving out its place in the Mat-Su Valley — are an essential tool to show these girls that other girls are doing it and can help them see the potential paths to take.

“This is a time where everyone’s is coming together to see what we can do together,” said Girls Who Code volunteer, Jeffrey Blackburn.

Girls Who Code will be hosting their first ever summer camp available to all girls across the district. The camp is free of charge and takes place June 4-8. The first camp is catered for students from sixth to 10th grade, but will broaden up over time according to MSBSD office instructors and Girls Who Code volunteers, Victoria Flint and Jeffrey Blackburn. Flint said that MSBSD female students are outnumbered 15-to-1 in robotics classes. She saw this expo as a means to an end, shining a light on the vastness of possibilities.

“All we know is we want to raise those numbers of girls in S.T.E.M. classes,” Flint said.

One Academy charter student, Carolyn, was the only girl with her group at the expo. She was surprised, but not particularly concerned about the decline of girls in computer sciences. She said it’s a matter of preference, from person to person. She was more concerned about showing off her group’s robots that performed simple, yet precise tasks that took countless hours of preparation. She isn’t quite sure what she will do when she grows up, but is leaning toward engineering.

“I think we should give them [girls] the opportunity and it’s up to them to take it or not,” Carolyn said. “It’s up to them if they’re interested or not.”