Schoolgirls from Aver-o-Mar School Group join Microsoft Portugal!!!
The title is meant to be catchy, but it’s true, as six students representing Agrupamento de Escolas de Aver-o-Mar entered Microsoft Portugal’s headquarters in Lisbon today, 21 March!
Our six students, Diana Faria, Beatriz Morim, Sofia Silva, Ema Pinheiro, Inês Silva and Mafalda Macedo, represented the Aver-o-Mar School Group and the city of Póvoa de Varzim brilliantly, being the only group from north of the River Mondego. As they said, “It was with great joy that we were given the opportunity to take part in the 2024 DO IT Girls event, held at Microsoft Portugal in Lisbon!”
We had the opportunity to attend inspiring talks presented by 6 brilliant speakers, who told us about their careers in technology and their journey to their current job at Microsoft.”
In the morning, the students took part in workshops aimed at students and Professor Paula Santos, who accompanied them, along with Professor António Santos, took part in the workshop and brainstorming aimed at teachers.
After a delicious and healthy lunch break provided by the organisers, there was still time for a short stroll around the area and then back to the event, where the students had the opportunity to take part in two workshops, the first using microbit, which allowed them to put their creativity and knowledge into practice, as well as acquire new knowledge and experience, very well guided by the Microsoft volunteer mentors.
In the second workshop, aimed at artificial intelligence and Microsoft Copilot, the students were challenged to carry out some tasks with the Copilot tool. Initially, some rules and conventions of use were emphasised, in particular the duty to interact with Copilot in a polite manner, as if it were a conversation. It was also explained that artificial intelligence in no way replaces humans and that we should always check our answers. At the end of the workshop, they were challenged to ask Copilot to generate an image of a Pokemon to their liking, which was printed out and given to the students.
At the end of the day, there was another opportunity to learn more about the facilities and some of the working methodologies, and the day ended with a closing session.
The students say that “We return to school with new knowledge and new opportunities to develop,” and also recall that the phrase “that’s not for girls” is a concept of the past, because STEM is, in fact, for girls (by Rita Silva, Microsoft Portugal).
Our sincere thanks go to Prof Fátima Morais who, for reasons of her own, was unable to attend. Fátima Morais, who was unable to accompany them for reasons of force majeure, but who dedicated herself to making their dream a reality.
Finally, we would like to thank Póvoa de Varzim Town Council for their co-operation
