Girls Win Cash At MCWT Web Design Contest

Seventy-four teams of metro Detroit high school girls participated Saturday in the Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundations' Web site design contest finals at Lawrence Technological University.

Eleven finalist teams gave oral presentations about their Web sites to a group of area technology business leaders.

This year's theme explored creating a "Time Capsule from 2010" to encourage students to think about their present as it relates to their future by creating digital time capsules.

The MCWT Foundation hosted the competition to encourage high school girls to learn valuable, in-demand skills and consider pursuing an education and career in technology fields. The students were also offered free classes in Web design, usability and presentation skills in order to prepare for the competition.

Winners received a cash prize and all six teams will get to spend the day at Daimler to experience hands-on technology application in the workplace.

The winners were:

1. Rasmeet Singh, Sterling Heights Stevenson ($500)
2. Iulia Rontu, Utica Henry Ford II ($300)
3. Andrea Moore, Warren Fitzgerald ($200)

Honorable Mentions ($50):
1. Sandy Rushman, Warren Fitzgerald
2. Allison Gustafson, Panko Center, L'Anse Creuse school district
3. Eva Smith, St. Clair Shores Lakeshore High School

Additional finalists were Mindy Ksar and Elaine Peralta (Warren Mott), Chelsey Jackson (New Boston Huron), Kinza Ilyas (Warren Fitzgerald), Ashley Scalabrino (St. Clair Shores Lakeshore), Devon Irwin (Warren Fitzgerald).

Judges included:

Janet McQueen, Vice President, Blue Care Network
Diane Ruiz Cairns, Professor, Lawrence Tech University
Maru Flores, Global Program Manager, Ford Motor Company
Mark Parker, Regional Operating Officer, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA
Linda Monteith, Vice President, Comerica Bank

For more information on MCWT, check out www.mcwt.org.

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