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Program teaches girls tech skills to help find jobs

Posted at 7:03 PM, Mar 28, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-28 22:03:41-04

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A program dedicated to giving high school girls in under-served areas skills to help get good part-time jobs is being given a $54,000 grant from The San Diego Foundation.

"These students are going to be able to experience real world, hands-on training in highly technical fields," said Katie Rast from The San Diego Foundation.

Called "Girls Take Flight", 20 students from schools in Southeast San Diego are spending their spring break in a classroom partaking in a "drone camp".

The girls are learning how to build, fly, repair, and code drones. The hope is that those skills will help them get the part-time jobs that they'll likely need to pay for college.

In addition, about half of the students will be awarded internships with the Elementary Institute of Science, which is administering the program.

Those internships will include tours and introductions to potential mentors from prestigious San Diego-based tech companies, including Qualcomm, Northrop Grumman, and General Atomics.

10News spoke with students who say opportunities such as this one are hard to find in communities such as theirs, leading to their dedication to take advantage.

"I know my parents did so much to bring me here," said Sundus Mohamed, a Crawford High student and daughter of Somali immigrants. "I feel it would just be a waste, just plain rude to not take all the opportunities given to me."