YWCA of Greater Charleston launches tech coding club for middle school girls
November 14, 2016
The YWCA of Greater Charleston will launch a free coding club for girls in the 6th to 8th grades beginning today.
Created in partnership with Girls Who Code and Charleston Promise Neighborhood, the club is designed to lower the technology gender barrier for girls. Because the technology industry tends to pay above-average wages, breaking this barrier is important for the economic advancement of women, especially women and girls of color.
The club will be the first Girls Who Code Club for middle school girls in Charleston, and will take place in the computer lab at Sanders-Clyde Creative Arts School from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Mondays, excluding school holidays. Participants will join a sisterhood of supportive peers and role models as they explore ways to use computer science to solve a problem in their school or community. No coding experience is necessary to participate in the club.
The girls will learn key concepts behind computer programming languages, whether their goal is to build an app, create a website, or program a robot. After they graduate, they can tap into an alumni network of tens of thousands of girls across the country who are using computer science to make a difference.
While the pilot program will be focused in Charleston’s Neck area, the YWCA of Greater Charleston has plans for more. “We intend to expand the program to other middle schools across the Charleston region as well as to local high schools, so that girls who begin attending a club in middle school can continue through their high school careers, learning more advanced skills, honing their interests, and continuing to build relationships with other girls and women in the technology field,” says LaVanda Brown, executive director of the YWCA of Greater Charleston.
“We are proud to partner with the YWCA to co-host this inaugural Girls Who Code program at Sanders-Clyde,” says Sherrie Snipes-Williams, chief executive officer of Charleston Promise Neighborhood. “This programming can be a game changer for our middle school students and will offer them additional hours of STEM enrichment and hands-on learning experiences that will complement their school day curriculum.”
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math, fields in which females are underrepresented. The White House has noted women in the STEM fields earn 33 percent more than those in other occupations and experience a smaller wage gap relative to men.
According to the Girls Who Code website, the technology gender gap has been worsening since the 1980s, when 37% of all computer science graduates were women. Today, women are on track to fill just 3% of computing-related jobs by 2020, the nonprofit says. Girls are being left behind: their interest in computer science ebbs over time, but the biggest drop-off happens between the ages of 13 and 17.
From its founding in 2012 to 2015, Girls Who Code grew from 20 girls in New York to 10,000 girls across 42 U.S. states, and its goal is to reach 40,000 by the end of this academic school year. Thanks to their clubs, 65% of participating girls say they intend to major or minor in computer science.
Interested parents and girls should contact the YWCA of Greater Charleston at 843.722.1644 or [email protected]. Girls can also sign up with Ms. Daniels in Room 1401 at Sanders-Clyde Creative Arts School.
ABOUT THE YWCA OF GREATER CHARLESTON
For more than 100 years, the YWCA of Greater Charleston has served women, children, and families in Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester Counties in its mission to empower women and eliminate racism. By engaging area residents and organizations, it seeks to create opportunities for women’s personal growth, leadership, and economic development in order to attain justice, freedom, and dignity for all people. It is a longstanding local association of YWCA USA, one of the oldest and largest multicultural women’s organizations in the United States. For over 150 years, the YWCA has been at the forefront of most social movements—from civil rights, affordable housing, and pay equity to domestic violence prevention and healthcare reform. For more information, visit www.ywca-charlestonsc.org.
ABOUT CHARLESTON PROMISE NEIGHBORHOOD
Originally inspired by the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City, the mission of Charleston Promise Neighborhood is to ensure the residents of Charleston’s Neck neighborhood are engaged and that its children are on track to graduate high school with the abilities necessary to succeed in college, the military, or the workforce. For more information, visit www.charlestonpromise.org.
ABOUT GIRLS WHO CODE
Girls Who Code is a national non-profit organization working to close the gender gap in technology. Through its Girls Who Code Clubs and Summer Immersion Program, it is leading the movement to inspire, educate, and equip young women with the computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities. For more information, visitwww.girlswhocode.org.
