Garnett Foundation Sponsors Backyard Computer Camp in Collaboration With Stanford University

BURLINGAME, Calif., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The Garnett Foundation in association with the Department of Computer Science will sponsor the Backyard Computer Camp at Stanford University, August 9-14, 1998. The Backyard Project ( http://www.backyard.org ), a program of the Garnett Foundation, was initiated in April 1997 to encourage high school girls to pursue careers in the computer industry. The goal of this camp is to create an interactive, high-tech, collaborative environment for Bay Area high school girls. They will learn computer programming, develop professional and team skills, and network with computer industry women.

According to a report released by the National Science Foundation, Nov. 7, 1997, the number of computer science degrees awarded to women dropped by more than fifty percent from 1985 to 1995. Additionally, of the 900,000 students who took the College Board SAT in 1997, the number of girls who declared computer and information science as their intended major was less than one percent of the total test takers.

"My goal is to encourage girls to pursue careers in the computer industry," said Katrina Garnett, founder, president and CEO of CrossWorlds Software, Inc. (www.crossworlds.com), and founder of the Garnett Foundation. "The computer industry is an exciting frontier where a woman can define her own products, standards and rules. There is no glass-ceiling."

Katrina Garnett started the Garnett Foundation to help change the under representation of women in the computer industry. Her main inspiration was her young daughter, a third generation computer user. Other catalysts were her frustration with the limited pool of female engineers available for employment at CrossWorlds Software and a desire to help change the misconception that the computer industry is a "nerdy" environment.

About the Backyard Computer Camp

The girls participating in the pilot camp are from eight Bay Area high schools. The first group was chosen from girls who participated in the foundation's first pilot program, a role model panel held at the Association of Computer Machinery's conference, the Grace

Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, September 1997. Additional girls applied after meeting representatives from the foundation at math and science related programs in the Bay Area.

A volunteer curriculum committee of computer industry and academic women determined the criteria for the camp. The girls were required to submit a three-page application, two computer projects, a transcript and letter of recommendation from a math, science or computer teacher. Candidates wrote an essay describing how they became interested in computers and what they find exciting about them.

"It is tough to get a job out there when you are illiterate in computers," wrote Sydney Truong, a senior at Oakland Technical high school in Oakland, Calif., in her essay application for the camp. "Technology is growing and improving everyday and when you don't stay ahead of the game, you'll be left in the dust."

Stanford University's Participation

Sponsoring the camp on behalf of the Computer Science Department at Stanford University are Eric Roberts, Ph.D., associate chair for Education of the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University, Margaret Johnson, Ph.D., and Terry Winograd, Ph.D. "The university community in the Bay Area is concerned with the drop of women applicants in computer science," said Dr. Roberts. "The Backyard Computer Camp allows our department to work with a foundation that is charged with helping to change this overall trend."

"My hope is that these girls leave this camp at Stanford with concrete computer skills," said Dr. Johnson. "As females, they play a key role in the future of how computer science develops."

Curriculum Committee Members for 1998

The curriculum committee for the camp is comprised of women from Silicon Valley high school programs as well as women from Stanford University. The women are: Margaret Johnson, Ph.D., Department of Computer Science at Stanford University; Eve Kedar, former tech coordinator at Notre Dame High School, now a consultant with the Backyard Project; Angela Lih, computer science teacher at Homestead High School; Adrienne Renner, technology coordinator at Presentation High School; Judith Schweikert, director at Valley Scholars and Lynda Talgo, a former engineer and current candidate of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

Garnett Foundation

The Garnett Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit foundation, was established by Katrina Garnett, founder, president and CEO of CrossWorlds Software in Burlingame, Calf., to help find and implement solutions addressing the under representation of women in the computer industry. In the

spring of 1997, the Foundation commissioned a survey of 652 college bound female and male high school students in Austin, Texas, Boston, Massachusetts and the Silicon Valley in Northern California. The survey confirmed that high schools girls were not considering careers in computer science and, in fact, had very limited access to information about the important and exciting careers in the second largest industry in the world. The Garnett Foundation is located at 577 Airport Boulevard, Suite 800, Burlingame, CA 94010. The telephone number is 650-685-5700. The Backyard Project web site is at http://www.backyard.org.