Google’s Mopac office hosted the kickoff event for ChickTech Austin Nov. 12-13 selecting more than 100 high school girls in the Austin area to participate. Fourteen girls from McNeil were accepted to the program.

“I applied to the program because I wanted to try something new,” sophomore Christiana McClellan said. “I learned that technology is in every job field. It opened my eyes to technology because I saw so many things that I liked bundled in that one field.”

The program featured workshops such as building a computer, building web pages, video editing, game design, robotics, and soft circuits.

“I thought it would be cool to learn more about computers, since I was interested in them,” freshman Katrina Fierro said. “It makes me think that I can work with computers both inside them and outside with coding.”

The program offered a lens for girls to better connect to a modern society, where creativity, ingenuity, passion, and hard work all come together to improve lives. The event highlighted tech jobs, but it also created a message that even though discrimination still exists for women in the tech field, it empowers young women to succeed despite the odds.

“The people were nice and inspiring. The experience was very helpful,” McClellan said.