NTC Mosaic of Diversity

Voting in your local, state and national elections is an opportunity to let your voice be heard. Wisconsin offers online voter registration. Visit https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/Register-To-Vote to get set up! Have your driver's license or state ID card handy.

You can also register by mail or in person.

Register To Vote My Vote

September is Su***de Awareness and Prevention month - there are so many resources and supports available! This is one free training with solid approaches to help save lives.

Su***de Prevention | Take 5 To Save Lives Take 5 to Save Lives is a public awareness campaign to prevent the tragedy of su***de across the world. Learn the 5 action steps everyone can take to save a life.

Wisconsin Technical College System is hosting a series through 2022-23 on Working as One: A year of Mental Health. Today's presentation was from the Wisconsin affiliate of National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) talking about common mental illnesses and the importance of language around mental health. In the discussion they shared a new app from American Psychiatric Association - My Mental Health Crisis Plan. Check it out and share with others.
https://namiwisconsin.org/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.smiadviser.apa&hl=en_US&gl=US

My Mental Health Crisis Plan

Sharing a piece from National Public Radio that digs into how wealth is passed down, or up, in the US.

White adults receive the most financial help from older relatives, poll shows A new poll finds white adults are more than twice as likely as others to get sizable financial help from parents or other elders. It helps explain America's persistent racial wealth gap.

It is Black History Month! Learn about the origins of Black History Month, the 2022 Theme, and multiple photo galleries from History.com. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month

November is Native American Heritage Month. Indian Country Today is a media source of, by, and about Native folks. Check them out if you're interested in expanding your news sources. The linked story offers perspective as Thanksgiving nears.

A Wampanoag retelling of Thanksgiving A Wampanoag citizen retells us the true story about the first meeting between the Wampanoag people and the pilgrims. Plus, more on the handful of Native people who ran for public office in Tuesday’s election

Did you know women held a large portion of computer related jobs until the 1980s? What happened? https://www.facebook.com/316489315054055/posts/3523465757689712/

For decades, women were leaders in computer science but then, in 1984, their representation in the field dropped dramatically -- in a way unseen in any other scientific or technical field. In an excellent segment on NPR's Planet Money, Caitlin Kenney and Steve Henn unravel the mystery of what happened to cause women to drop out of computer science in astounding numbers. And, what they discover offers valuable insight on how gender stereotypes, especially as they pertain to children's toys and marketing, can have far-reaching and unforeseen effects.

The 15-minute podcast is a must hear to truly understand what happened during this period but, in a nutshell, the Planet Money team determined that it was in the early 1980s that the narrative first emerged that computers are for boys. The first personal computers weren't much more than toys and they were marketed almost exclusively to boys and men. Computer geek culture also began to emerge during this period and TV shows, movies, and video games all reaffirmed that computers were the domain of boys.

By 1984, the first generation of students who could have had a home computer entered college. Research at the time found parents were much more likely to buy computers for boys than girls and many more boys had experience programming prior to entering college. As a result, many young women discovered that they were already significantly behind their male peers from day one and, often facing discouragement from their fellow students and professors alike, women left computer science programs in droves.

Interestingly, prior to the introduction of the home computer and the gendered marketing of it as a 'boy' device, women were very active in the field and saw a sharp increase in their numbers between 1970 and 1984. Their representation in the field peaked in 1984 when 37% of computer science degrees were awarded to women; by 2011, according to the Computing Research Association, that number fell to 12%.

The segment also explores successful efforts at several elite computer sciences programs, such as those at Carnegie Mellon University and Harvey Mudd College, to combat sexism in the field and to turn this trend around. While such initiatives are encouraging, there is still significant progress that needs to be made: a study in 2016 by the Institution for Engineering and Technology found that toys with a technology, science, or math focus are still three times more likely to be targeted at boys than girls even today. To listen to "When Women Stopped Coding" on NPR, visit http://n.pr/1rOiDB6

For fun ways to spark your Mighty Girl's interest in programming, we recommend Coding Critters for ages 4 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/coding-critters) and Botley the Coding Robot for ages 5 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/botley)

For more programming toys and kits for all ages, visit our new blog post: "Code Like A Mighty Girl: 50 Toys & Books To Inspire Mighty Girl Coders" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=16049

For an excellent picture book about the pioneering computer scientist Grace Hopper, we highly recommend “Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code” for ages 5 to 9 at https://www.amightygirl.com/hopper-queen-of-code

To introduce children to the woman who invented the first computer program, Ada Lovelace - both for ages 5 to 9 - check out “Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine” (https://www.amightygirl.com/ada-lovelace-thinking-machine) and "Ada’s Ideas” (https://www.amightygirl.com/ada-s-ideas)

And, to inspire her with many stories of girls and women in technology, visit our blog post "60 Books to Inspire Science-Loving Mighty Girls," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=13914

In celebration of Human Rights Day, take a look at the illustrated version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

www.un.org This illustrated edition of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is published by the United Nations in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.