Girls Coding camp teaches foundations for STEM careers
Eighteen rising eighth- and ninth-grade girls in 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 Girls Coding Camp are learning skills that might come in handy for future STEM careers.The Girls Coding Camp, made possible with a $10,000 sponsorship from , is a one-week annual residential camp now in its third year that aims to motivate academically prepared females to enter the fields of computer science, information science, or web design. The camp concluded Friday, July 27, with an open house at 10 a.m. in the Engineering and Information Technology Student Services Lab on the first floor of the EIT building. This year鈥檚 participants were selected from schools statewide based on essay, grades, test scores, and recommendations. Schools represented include Forest Heights Stem Academy, Lisa Academy West, Lisa Academy Middle School, Episcopal Collegiate and Pulaski Academy, all in Little Rock; Benton Middle School; Haas Hall Rogers in Bentonville; Lincoln Junior High School in Centerton; Cotter Public Schools; Jacksonville Middle School; Perryville High School; Watson Chapel Junior High School in Pine Bluff; Sheridan Junior High School; Warren Middle School; and West Junior High School in West Memphis.For the past week, the girls have spent their mornings in the classroom with Thomas Wallace, 聽senior instructor of information science and 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 coordinator of the Web Design and Development program and information technology minor.鈥淥ur focus has been on the web stack of three core technologies: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript,鈥� Wallace said. 鈥淓ach day we focus on a different layer. The afternoons are for lab, and that鈥檚 where they get to apply the skills they have learned.鈥�The girls each chose a web project to work on this week.Lesleigh Sullivan, an eighth-grade student at Episcopal Collegiate School, has been creating a biography page for her project. She is co-captain of her school鈥檚 robotics team and will be involved with VEX Club this fall. She attend last year鈥檚 coding camp and wanted to return this summer to advance her skills.鈥淭his year, I learned about HTML, which I鈥檝e never done before,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was nice learning a new technology.鈥�The girls stay in on-campus housing during the week, so they also get a taste of what it鈥檚 like to be on a college campus. Earlier this week, they took a field trip to Windstream, where they visited labs to see how networking equipment is tested. In addition to hands-on instruction, the girls attend 鈥淕irl Talk鈥� seminars featuring female professionals to learn more about opportunities available for females in computer and information science. 聽聽
The girls tour Windstream.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to know there are so many women in STEM fields who are setting the path for us so we can do something better,鈥� said Emily Ye, an incoming eighth-grader at Forest Heights STEM Academy.One of the featured speakers was 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock alumna Christina Copley, who is head of information technology systems transformation for Windstream鈥檚 Consumer and Small Business Division.Copley attended the University of Central Arkansas where she began a major in kinesiology, thinking she wanted to be a coach. Then, she took an elective course in the Information Technology program and loved it.鈥淚 thought there would be more opportunities for me there, so I switched majors,鈥� Copley said. She started working at Alltel as a data warehousing intern and continued working for the company while she took night classes at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock to earn her MBA in 2014.The girls asked Copley all sorts of questions:聽How many coding languages do you know?聽When you were our age, did you think you would be a stay-at-home mom?聽Do you think your job is different because you鈥檙e a woman? Then, finally, they stumped her: 鈥淲ho is your favorite Chris?鈥� (Chris Pine, Chris Evans, or Chris Hemsworth?)鈥淭hey were not shy and I like that,鈥� Copley said. 鈥淲hen I was in eighth grade, I didn鈥檛 know any women in IT. It wasn鈥檛 clear to me that was even a path. These STEM programs are important for girls to know there are options. Now is the age when you plant the seed.鈥�
The girls each chose a web project to work on this week.
Lesleigh Sullivan, an eighth-grade student at Episcopal Collegiate School, has been creating a biography page for her project. She is co-captain of her school鈥檚 robotics team and will be involved with VEX Club this fall. She attend last year鈥檚 coding camp and wanted to return this summer to advance her skills.
鈥淭his year, I learned about HTML, which I鈥檝e never done before,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was nice learning a new technology.鈥�
The girls stay in on-campus housing during the week, so they also get a taste of what it鈥檚 like to be on a college campus. Earlier this week, they took a field trip to Windstream, where they visited labs to see how networking equipment is tested.
In addition to hands-on instruction, the girls attend 鈥淕irl Talk鈥� seminars featuring female professionals to learn more about opportunities available for females in computer and information science. 聽聽
