BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The film "Hidden Figures" is garnering a lot of buzz during awards season, and now it's serving as inspiration to young women.
"For young people, especially girls, interested in STEM, what 'Hidden Figures' as a movie does is focus on three women pioneers in the field of aviation and space. And what better role models and examples for these three girls than these three women?" said AT&T director of external affairs Kevin Hanna.
AT&T hosted the free screening of the film at the Regal on Elmwood Avenue. Some of the attendees also showed off computer science presentations that were the result of a computer coding program for girls that was held last summer.
Danya Flood is one of those students. She said coding opens up a lot of possibilities.
"I always found how you make websites really cool because you just make a couple of letters and abbreviations and you just get this whole new thing that you've never seen before, and you can just mold and form the website to however you want it. I just want to be able to do that," Flood said.
Cherie Messore, Western New York STEM Hub manager for stakeholder relations, said events like the screening and coding camp are meant to keep young women excited about what the world has to offer them and prepare the future workforce.
"Particularly in Western New York, with the burgeoning medical campus and all that's happened to rebuild our economy, these jobs are essential to our region's future, and these kids are the ticket to watching our economy grow," Messore said.
That encouragement has students like Flood thinking big. She plans to be a cardiothoracic surgeon.
"I love working with the heart and I just love how it could be the thing that gets you moving, that wakes you up in the morning, that makes you go to sleep, it keeps you living and you can be able to hold that in your hands and fix it if it's broken," Flood said.