On Tuesday, February 14, Mr. Aryeh Tiefenbrunn’s 10th grade STEAM students joined tech classes from other Jewish girls’ high schools throughout the tri-state area for a trip to Google in New York City. The trip was sponsored by the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Learning (CIJE), which also provides advisement and resources for technology programs at many Jewish schools around the country. The goal of the trip was for students to learn about the diversity of Google’s staff and the many opportunities that exist for religious Jewish women in the tech industry.

The students were thrilled as they entered the Google building at 111 8th Avenue, with the bright colors of the Google logo beaming at them from every angle. They were guided to an auditorium crowded with nearly 200 excited young women, and were treated to presentations by longtime Googlers, including Corinna Cortes, one of the first Google employees. Cortes shared her award-winning insights into machine learning with the transfixed crowd, explaining the technological sophistication behind services like Google Translate and Google Photos. The students also heard from a panel of six Orthodox Jewish female Google employees and had the opportunity to ask them questions about working at Google and the tech industry in general. The students were left feeling empowered to consider career paths in computer science, knowing that lofty goals are within their reach.

“It was empowering to meet many successful Jewish women pursuing careers in the computer science industry, an industry that has been mostly dominated by men,” said sophomore Nirtza Stechler.

Her classmate, Maya Stiefel, added, “We got to learn what it’s like for Jewish women to work in the fast-moving world of technology. The women told us about the incredible projects they are working on, and also the benefits such as having the flexibility to work at home on Fridays to get ready for Shabbos. They really opened our eyes to the opportunities that we as Jewish women could pursue in technology.”