WebCamp held at East Wake Academy March 20 - March 31, 2005

For 2 weeks in March, NC Connected offered its WebCamp I program to 8 girls at East Wake Academy in Zebulon, NC. The Girls Connected WebCamp Program is a series of classes that teach the fundamentals of web design to girls ages 10 to 17. Additionally, the program seeks to teach basic life skills, to discuss some of the hard issues that teenage girls face, and to expose the girls to succesful female role models.

The students in the East Wake Academy WebCamp learned basic HTML coding using Notepad and Internet Explorer. Students were encouraged to critique each other's work, and each student was given at least one chance to teach in front of the class.

Under the direction of Denise Tawwab, NC Connected Founder and President, the students built 3 table-based web pages, dealing with the following topics:

1. recognizing abuse in dating relationships
2. the consequences of teen pregnancy
and
3. their WebCamp Experience

Yvonne Ward, Chief Creative Director of Prodigal One Media and an NC Connected Mentor visited the class to discuss careers in Video Editing and to just let the students get a look at a successful, professional young woman.

Madeline Drayton, Realtor and another NC Connected Mentor also visited the class to speak with the girls about a career in real estate. Mrs. Drayton also helped some of the girls with their work and acted as the class photographer taking some of the beautiful pictures on this page.

The Fargo Cattle Company Restaurant in Zebulon donated a delicious lunch for the entire class (yummy chicken sandwiches) on Friday the 24th. Mr. Davis picked up the food, and we shared a group lunch in one of the classrooms. While we were enjoying lunch, the girls entertained us with singing, dancing, and poetry.

On the last day of class, we had a pizza party (the pizza was paid for by one of NC Connected's board members). A parent sent in chips and soda and the students brought music and a CD player. The girls took one look at my efforts on the dance floor (yes we danced), took me under their wings and taught me (Ms. Denise) how to do one of the latest dances. I learned that "it's all in the shoulders..."

Thanks to the girls who participated (we had so much fun with you!). Thanks also to the EWA parents and staff for inviting us to be a part of your girls' lives.