On September 30, 2025, students from Nathan Hale High School, Garfield High School, and Federal Way Public Academy visited the AWS Skills Center in Seattle for an IGNITE Worldwide Field Trip focused on cloud computing, AI, and tech careers. A total of 46 high school students explored the world of Amazon Web Services through a mix of hands-on activities and engaging conversations with women working in tech.
The day kicked off with a guided tour of the Cloud Discovery Space, where students completed a scavenger hunt to learn about topics like generative artificial intelligence and autonomous driving. It was thrilling for students to discover the capabilities of Alexa and how self-driving cars are advancing. One of the highlights was the hands-on computer-building friendly competition, where students worked together to assemble hardware components and understand how computers function from the inside out. One of the educators noted that she saw students really light up when they were putting their computer together!
A panel of four women working in STEM at Amazon Web Services— Jennifer Hu, Amy Thalangsy, Ananya Gode, and Jessica Citrin—closed the day by sharing their career journeys and answering questions from students. Topics ranged from challenges in male-dominated spaces to salary transparency, work-life balance, and job responsibilities.
One student asked what it’s like being the only girl—and the only Black girl—in a robotics club. The panelists responded with advice about networking, finding supportive mentors, and trusting your own path. With support from enthusiastic tour guides and trainers like Jerrell Tate and Deborah Williams, the event provided a fun, meaningful introduction to tech careers and encouraged students to see themselves in those futures.
“I saw women and men in STEM, who were very kind and inspiring to me as well as my classmates. I appreciated today’s meeting. It was helpful and nice. I learned to build a computer today, which was really fun.”
10th Grade IGNITE Student
“Today’s event inspired me a lot because I was kind of in doubt whether to do [STEM] or not, but because of this event I’m sure I’ll do it after school. My favorite thing was learning more details about STEM, it’s very satisfying to learn new things I didn’t know.”
11th Grade IGNITE Student
“Hearing about how women struggled to get into STEM fields really resonated with me. I found it hopeful to know that these women are [in] it, despite facing a lot of hardship. I really enjoyed learning how to build a computer, even though it was very quick. I want to build my own PC since mine is pre-built.”
11th Grade IGNITE Student
“Knowing more about all the different career choices in STEM made me feel like there can be something I can choose.”
12th Grade IGNITE Student
STUDENTS SURVEYED FOLLOWING PARTICIPATION IN THIS EVENT REPORTED...
76%
INTERESTED IN STEM
72%
KNOW MORE ABOUT STEM CAREERS & THE BENEFITS OF WORKING IN STEM
70%
FEEL MORE CONFIDENT
IN PURSUING STEM
73%
GAINED PERSPECTIVE & FEEL MORE HOPEFUL ABOUT THE FUTURE
Additional Student Feedback:
“The advice given after lunch was helpful, and I’ll definitely use my new knowledge in the future. I learned how to build a computer with given parts, which I found interactive and fun. Though, I also liked the scavenger hunt too.” – 10th Grade IGNITE Student
“A querer superarme más como personas.” “[It inspired me] to want to improve myself more as people” – 11th Grade IGNITE Student
“It was great. I learned a lot and I had fun! I don’t know a lot about STEM but this helped me. My favorite thing was building the computer. It was kind of hard at first but fun.” – 11th Grade IGNITE Student
“Me ayudo a prepararme y instruirme en sobre las carreras. Si me gusto mucho y le agradezco a los voluntarios” “It helped me prepare and educate myself about the careers. Yes, I really liked it and I thank the volunteers.” – 9th Grade IGNITE Student
“A prepararme como persona para el futuro.” “To prepare myself as a person for the future” – 12th Grade IGNITE Student
“Me inspiró ha más prepararme como persona y a pensar en el futuro. Sobre los programas que hay para mayores de edad.” “It inspired me to further prepare myself as a person and think about the future. [My favorite thing I learned was] about the programs available for adults.” – 10th Grade IGNITE Student
“My favorite thing I learned was that before these women joined a STEM career, they were interested in other careers.” – 10th Grade IGNITE Student
“It’s really really changed my point of view. I thought they would just teach us about computers but that wasn’t [it,] I learned a lot of things. I love the way I got to know the computer stuff and how they work.” – 9th Grade IGNITE Student
“It opened my eyes to tons of new options of careers, and let me know that I am wanted in these positions. [The favorite thing I learned today is that] one way that self-driving cars learn is just by having people drive, and then the machine learns via machine learning. I’d like to thank the adult in charge of the scavenger hunt, she was super nice and fun to learn from.” – 11th Grade IGNITE Student
“It was very fun and interactive, I actually didn’t know a lot about how the things in a PC work but now I do and now I know how to build a PC!!! [My favorite part was] the PC building, even though it was a bit tedious because of a few plugs that were really small I managed to get them in place :)” – 11th Grade IGNITE Student
“When one of the STEM professionals said if you work on what you like you work harder on them, so really it taught me to do what I like and that there are other options up there. Something that I learned today was that once you graduate high school, you start to realize that things that you needed to learn in school don’t apply to things when you get a job. So for me it gives me relief that I don’t have to learn about everything.” – 10th Grade IGNITE Student
“It was nice to hear about people’s paths to their job. I think the focus on networking is helpful to me. [My favorite part was] building a computer! I’m very interested in how computers work.” – 11th Grade IGNITE Student
“It inspired me by seeing so many women in the building. I could picture myself here. Thank you! I learned that a computer is more like a puzzle. It’s very fun to play around with it.” – 12th Grade IGNITE Student
Thank you to our IGNITE Volunteers and Educators:
- Jerrell Tate
- Deborah Williams
- Meghan Sullivan
- Jennifer Hu
- Amy Thalangsy
- Ananya Gode
- Jessica Citrin
- Geoff Bolan
- Christine Rangeloff
- Alice Ouyang
About IGNITE Worldwide:
IGNITE Worldwide is a 501(c)3 nonprofit STEM education organization that aims to change gender and racial equity in STEM permanently and systematically. We work directly with teachers during the school day to provide programming that promotes gender equity and representation in STEM academics and careers. Through our award-winning program, IGNITE provides engaging, hands-on events that connect students with STEM professionals from industry leaders from around the world. Learn more at igniteworldwide.org.