Parents and children discover technology together
Over 400 parents attended free engineering workshops with their children on Oct. 4, 2023. This allowed them to make robots, discover how artificial intelligence works, bring a drawing to life and design a candy machine. This special evening for parents with their child was part of Techport Technology Week. A week in which 2,500 grade 7/8 students, 1,000 secondary school students and 100 teachers in six different events are also enthused about working and learning in engineering and technology.
As a parent, you want the best for your child. A great education with a guarantee of a future-proof job and a good salary. Danielle van der Mark, program leader Techport: "A choice for technique makes this possible. After all, technology is everywhere. In healthcare, construction, food, media, industry, science and of course the energy transition. We showed young people what you can do with a technical education. And why together with the parents? This is because parents play an important role in choosing an advanced education for their child."
Technology for every child
Techport believes it is important that children are introduced to technology at an early age and can discover for themselves if technology is for them. Danielle: "We have been organizing the PET, the promotional event technique in IJmond, for 18 years. This is especially for group 8. This year, for the first time, we also organized a day for group 7 students. In addition, lower secondary school students in IJmond visited companies. During this visit, they get to know the company and are given a tour or an assignment to do. This of course appeals enormously to the imagination. The upper school of secondary education came to Sporthal Beverwijk for a hackathon. Led by Fix Maakonderwijs, they got to work in groups on issues from companies such as Facta, Equans Netherlands, Tata Steel and Amsterdam IJmuiden Offshore Ports (AYOP). In dividing these groups, a mix of vmbo, mavo, havo, vwo and mbo students was deliberately made."
Techport Technology Week in figures
During Techport Technology Week, 2,400 elementary school students, 700 secondary school students, 75 teachers and teaching assistants, 400 parents visited 6 events with their child from the IJmond region. A total of 15 companies participated and 33 workshops were held.
