ChickTech: High School

ChickTech: High School is a year-long series of opportunities for local and online cohorts of girls and non-binary youth, providing hands-on workshops, mentoring, and internship connections. It supplements traditional education and provides a supportive community for youth of marginalized genders to learn how to create technology.

All of our high school workshops are hands-on so that participants come out of each with a sense of accomplishment and a burst of confidence. They remain engaged and learning through monthly workshops throughout the year. By increasing our participants’ self-confidence and interest in technology, we increase the number of girls and non-binary youth who aspire to technology careers. This important work is shaping the workforce of tomorrow to have the diverse skills and perspectives needed for the industry to thrive.

Registration is open for 2021/2022 programming!

Soon after the onset of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, ChickTech shifted high school programming into an online space for the safety and well-being of students, volunteers, and the greater tech community. In the 2021/2022 school year, ChickTech: High School will continue to offer virtual hands-on workshops and group mentorship opportunities for students online—we look forward to resuming in-person events and workshops when it is safe to do so.

Eligible participants include 9th – 12th grade students who identify as girls, non-binary, transgender, or gender-fluid. We place additional emphasis on supporting students who are further underserved, including students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, and students eligible for free or reduced lunches. Every effort will be made to provide equipment, Spanish language support, and accommodations to those in need.

Teachers & Educators: Nominate a high school student for ChickTech’s programming using the form below. If nominating more than five students, you can email us a copy of this template spreadsheet with the required information for each student.

Registration is now open! If you are a student who has been nominated or would like to opt-in to our program, fill out the form below to register.

Please note that our programs are free to all participants, and nominations are accepted through June 2022).

Questions about registering or nominating a student for our program? Please reach out to us at [email protected].

Upcoming Workshops

ChickTech: High School participants get access to all of the following events, plus a library of past events to watch at any time! To sign up for this program year, please register as a High School student above.

Mentorship: Navigating Neurodivergence for Careers

Saturday, April 23rd · 10:00am – 11:00am PT Join us for a mentoring session about neurodivergency, how it can impact your career and how to set yourself up for success! This session will be led by Alisha Boxton (they/them), Technical Project Manager at Kforce. They will talk about their experience as a professional with ADHD, share tips for career success, and lead an open discussion about how being neurodivergent affects professional life.

Workshop: AI for Good with Microsoft

Saturday, May 14th · 9:00am – 11:00am PT We are excited to partner with Microsoft’s DigiGirlz to host this workshop on Intro to Azure AI Fundamentals. This event will be shared with the DigiGirlz community as well. The workshop will include a keynote speaker from Microsoft, a talk on Azure AI and how it is used, and Kahoot games to show what you’ve learned!

Workshop: Safety First! Cyber Security with Cyberlocke

Saturday, June 11th · Time TBD Join ChickTech and our partner, Cyberlocke, for a fun workshop about cyber security and how to get into this growing field.

Volunteer to support ChickTech: High School

ChickTech is working to advance a diverse pipeline of girls and non-binary students into STEM careers, and we want YOU to get involved! There are many ways to donate your time and expertise:

Help us plan the Virtual High School program. We want your involvement—from coordinating workshops and volunteers to promoting the program within your local community! You can sign up here as a volunteer.
Share your expertise directly with students by leading a workshop or mentoring a group of students. We are interested in professionals within many different technical fields—please apply by submitting the form below.

What makes our program different?

Many young women do not reach their potential in STEM because they thought it was too difficult—or did not have role models in the field. A crucial aspect of our program is finding young women and non-binary students who would not otherwise have thought of themselves as capable of succeeding in a high tech career. We focus on recruiting youth who do not see themselves as technical but who have the aptitude to do very well in technical fields.

By asking educators, parents, and friends to hand-select our participants, we are giving our youth a vote of confidence: people who know them and recognize their abilities have nominated them for this exclusive opportunity! We place additional emphasis on recruiting BIPOC (Black and Indigenous people of color), at-risk, and low-income youth. Our program is free to participants; transportation assistance and food are provided at all of our events, and child-care stipends are also available for teen parents.