When I say “Python” which of the following comes to your mind?
On March 4th, 2017 Girls Inc. of San Diego County (GISDC) partnered with Qfinity to host over 20 high school aged girls at Qualcomm’s Thinkabit Lab for a Coding Party. Essentially, a two hour event aimed to inspire & ignite a spark for computer programming. Gone are the days where it was necessary to be a “computer geek” in order to learn how to code. Rather, it’s now a necessity for everyone to learn it. Don’t take my word for it, take theirs,
The girls’ prior experience with coding ranged from having little to no knowledge to successfully completing AP Computer Science courses. They had a variety of interest and career goals from being a chef, to a pediatrician, to an artist. Yoly Decker, a senior I.T. Engineer at Qualcomm, empowered the girls by sharing her story on how code was used to help automate her work and help make it more efficient. Leaving school at the tender age of 9 to take care of her brother, and then returning to school a decade later, Decker was a prime example of how gender, age, race, financial labels do not have to be an hinderance to be successful in this field.
During the event, the attendees learned the basics of Python as well as tried out projects from Google’s Made With Code. Learning how to make the computer to do their math homework, excited the girls as most rated math operations as their favorite activity.
Each attendee came out of the event knowing how computer programming would benefit their careers as they all agreed to continue developing their skills. Trinity Brandon, who came in with very little experience was excited to continue to learn coding as she felt she could, “program a machine that could aid surgeons.” Nithya Palakodety used the Dance Visualizer to create a project that can be viewed here: Nithya’s Project.
A special thank you to Thinkabit Lab for being such a great event host & the volunteers who helped make this exciting event such a success! As the STEM Chair, I’m excited to announce that GISDC has two more coding parties coming up at MiraCosta & LEARN Academy. Please encourage girls between the ages of 13-18years to register & attend!
