On Saturday, May 11, five IT experts from Minnesota IT Services volunteered to judge teams of teen girls competing in Technovation[MN]’s exciting Appapalooza event. Appapalooza celebrates the hard work that students across the state did during a 3-month curriculum to design, code, and pitch mobile phone apps with the potential to make a significant impact to the community.

Technovation[MN], formed in 2014 to bring the Global Technovation Challenge to Minnesota. The Challenge is the longest running and largest global technology competition exclusively for girls to spark interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Appapalooza was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center, and it brought together 348 girls in 87 teams from schools across the state. To prepare for the event, each team researched a topic, worked with a coach or mentor to develop an application to solve a problem, then demonstrated and pitched their app at the event. There were 91 judges and 170 mentors involved in the event.

MNIT Commissioner and State Chief Information Officer Tarek Tomes had the special honor of addressing the crowd at the culmination of the awards ceremony. His message to the young women was that he couldn’t wait to see “the apps you will create, and the companies you will own.” He even managed to capture the moment on Twitter with a great selfie highlighting the crowd.

MNIT’s Ellena Schoop, Nancy Skuta, Karen Simons, Wendy Ady, and Rahul Nori each judged teams. Check out their reflections on their experience as judges:

“In 2018, I was asked to help a team of young ladies and their mentor with locating some state data regarding trade schools and apprentice programs throughout the state. It turns out, they were building a mobile app that would make this data available right at your fingertips. I put them in touch with DEED [Department of Employment and Economic Development] and Office of Higher Education to assist with locating the public data, and I quickly realized they were part of Technovation. I thought this was incredible. I found out that year that they were short on judges for this event and decided to sign up. I also thought it would be great to have support from Minnesota IT Services, which is always looking for new partnerships, especially in the IT workforce.

The experience was so rewarding that this year, not only did I sign up – but I was even more deliberate about recruiting additional IT professionals within MNIT to participate. I think about how these young coders are solving community problems, connecting people with services, building new services, changing business models to service individuals and communities, and I am inspired. They are on our heels, and I’m excited to make room for them in this world of technology.”
– Ellena Schoop

“Being a judge for TechnovationMN’s Appapalooza 2019 event was a joy and an honor. This is my second year as a judge, and I judged in the junior category, which is for middle school aged girls. As a judge, we review a pitch video presented by the students, a demonstration of their app, and review the code they used to create their app. I had six teams in the group that I was privileged to evaluate. What is so inspiring is not only that the students are developing an app at age 11, but that they are creating an application to help solve a problem in their community. The students are encouraged to think broadly and critically about our world and how technology can help resolve and solve problems. When you see what these girls are developing, you can’t help but feel encouraged for our future.

The Appapalooza event also gives the students an opportunity practice public speaking. The students are required to give a four minute presentation, not only to the six to seven person judging panel, but for a room full of other teams, family members, and mentors. The students are learning valuable skills in technology, public speaking, marketing, and team work. I highly recommend judging and/or mentoring to other MNIT staff.”
– Nancy Skuta

“Last year, I read an article about how women are succeeding in many STEM fields EXCEPT for a significant drop in women’s participation in the tech industry. The percentage of women earning a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science has dramatically dropped from a high of 37% in 1984 (might have been the year I earned mine) to the current 18%! That article drove to me to look for an opportunity to encourage girls in the field which has been so good to me. When Nancy and Ellena shared their experience as judges for Technovation Minnesota [last year], I knew that was the opportunity I was looking for. As a judge, I saw these teams demonstrate creativity, teamwork, problem solving, innovation and lots of enthusiasm. The future looks bright!”
– Karen Simons

“Famous British politician Winston Churchill said, “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give”. I signed up to be a judge at Technovation [MN], so that I can pay it forward and encourage these technology savvy kids. It was fascinating to see the interest and spark in all the young middle school aged girls. Not only did they work together as teams to develop resourceful apps, but also made pitch videos and delivered presentations to promote them. Events like these will empower the future of the state and address our IT workforce needs.”
– Rahul Nori