Guest post from Melanie Shirley, Technovation[MN] Board Member
We had a thrilling start to 2015 with another App Day! On Sunday, January 11, Technovation[MN] welcomed 28 girls and 21 mentors to the TIES Training Center to learn how to use App Inventor to code mobile apps. Enthusiasm ran high at this weekend’s event and the girls and mentors came ready and willing to learn. A big thanks to our event sponsors Aeris Communications, Code Savvy and the TIES Training Center.
Now the real fun (and the real work) begins. This week marks the beginning of the Technovation Challenge, where our teams of girls will work together to create a mobile app to address an issue in their community. This year, Technovation[MN] has nearly 40 teams from 25 schools guided by over 90 mentors. Mentors and coaches walk the teams through a 12-week curriculum that teaches both technical and entrepreneurial skills. At the end of the Challenge, each team submits 6 deliverables, which include the app source code, screenshots, pitch and demo videos, a business plan and a description.
On April 26, Technovation[MN] will host Appapalooza where our teams get to show off their apps. The top teams trek to Silicon Valley to compete in the global Technovation Challenge. The winners of the global Technovation Challenge win $10,000 in seed funding to help commercialize their app.
Technovation[MN] has more than tripled its participation since it started in 2013. We are thrilled to inspire and engage the next generation of women coders and entrepreneurs through this experiential learning program! Technovation[MN] is a program of Code Savvy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to catalyzing coding opportunities for kids and teens in Minnesota. Donate to this great cause.
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