Girls in Technology

About the Program

Category: Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

Girls in Technology Pike County, KY Population: 66,922 The Pike County program Girls in Technology encourages women of all ages to work in technology using live theatre as a venue. Pike County Cooperative Extension Service Fine Arts Program and Artist Collaborative Theatre combined to create the Women of Theatre Tech Program that allows females to work in all aspects of theatre technology including lighting design and operation, sound design and operation, stage management, scenic design and construction, and costume design and construction, directing and playwriting. To get this program up and running, obstacles facing the County had to be overcome. Due to the strong rural area and coal predominant society, encouraging women to work in technology was challenging. To promote for the program, the county reached out to school districts, contacting teachers to provide names of students whom they felt would gain from the program’s initiatives. To reach adult women, the program was advertised throughout the County and announced during Artist Collaborative Theatre shows. This was successful and reached both youth and adult females. Older women began the program with an average confidence level of 2 out of 5 and ended the program with an average of 4 out of 5. The Women of Theatre Tech Program saw improvement in academics for every student who participated. These students also compete in the Kentucky Theatre Festival against professionals of 25 years or more and seven of the eight members of the best tech team in the state of Kentucky were female coming from the ACT Tech Team, ages 11-15. Girls in Technology has also influenced participants to join Extension programs and other areas of the Fine Arts.