Snapshots 1999: A Yearbook for DO-IT Participants

Welcome to DO-IT Snapshots 1999!

Congratulations DO-IT Scholars, Pals, Ambassadors, and Mentors! Your efforts in supporting one another resulted in DO-IT winning The Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. In fall of 1997, I accepted it on your behalf at the White House.

Scholars are high school students with disabilities who are preparing for college. They have interests in challenging fields that include science, engineering, mathematics, and technology. They travel from across the nation to attend Summer Study programs at the University of Washington in Seattle and communicate via the Internet year-round. More high school students with disabilities, the DO-IT Pals, join this electronic community. DO-IT Scholars who graduate from high school and move on to college or work become DO-IT Ambassadors, sharing their experiences with younger Pals and Scholars. This electronic community is also supported by DO-IT Mentors. Most DO-IT Mentors have disabilities themselves and are pursuing post-secondary studies or are employed.

Primary funding for DO-IT is provided by the National Science Foundation, the State of Washington, and the U.S. Department of Education. Additional grants have been received from Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, NEC Foundation of America, the Seattle Foundation, the Telecommunications Funding Partnership, US WEST Communications, Visio Corporation, the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, the AOL Foundation, the Samuel S. Johnson Foundation, the Jeld-Wen Foundation, Microsoft, and an NSF Award for Mentoring. The University of Washington also contributes substantial resources to this project.

This publication facilitates communication between DO-IT participants. The Phase I Scholars included in this album began the program in 1999; Phase II Scholars started in 1998; and Ambassadors joined DO-IT in earlier years. Participants submitted their autobiographies via electronic mail and the publication was created using computers during Summer Study 1999.

Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D.
Director, DO-IT
College of Engineering/Computing & Communications