Juniors start girl-only coding club

Junior Shannon Chen and her team of two other girls sat at the edge of their seats at the Microsoft headquarters this past July as they anxiously made the final touches to Brouze, their online database of tutors designed for high school students.

Reflecting on the past two weeks of work on their functional database, the pair felt proud knowing that they were able to use their coding knowledge to build a website from scratch.

“Making the final touches knowing that we would not see each other again was bittersweet, but the entire experience working together as a team was so rewarding,” Chen said.

Chen, along with junior Nidhi Jain, attended a seven-week summer program called Girls Who Code at the Microsoft headquarters in Mountain View this past summer.

Jain was inspired to explore coding because her dad is a software engineer and her brother, class of 2012 alum Vineet Jain, is studying computer science and engineering at UC Berkeley.

“They kind of forced me and pushed in the computer science direction,” Jain said. “Luckily, I actually ended up liking coding since you get to think of new ways to solve problems.”

Both girls began pursuing their interest in coding when they took AP Computer Science last year as sophomores. In the class, Chen enjoyed many of the projects, including building an Android app from scratch.

“Those projects helped me understand that coding is a powerful tool that is capable to build many wonderful things,” Chen said.

During the Microsoft program, the girls toured tech companies such as Facebook and Google, an experience that Chen found “eye-opening and exciting.” At these coding havens, technology leaders such as Mike Schroepfer, the chief technology officer of Facebook, and Kevin Systrom, the co-founder of Instagram, spoke to the girls about their experiences.

During the field trip to Facebook, they got a chance to meet with Schroepfer, who emphasized how important it is to focus on improving a product rather than worrying about the success a product will bring. At the end of the discussion, the girls got to ask him questions. Jain, who was fascinated by his speech, raised her hand.

“I could have got some really inspiring advice, but instead, I asked him, ‘Do you perhaps know Mark Zuckerberg?’ which is probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever done,” Jain said. “I was a little embarrassed since he said that they sit right next to each other.”

Schroepfer’s inspiring speech, the countless amount of advice that the girls gained from the speakers and the full immersion in coding that the program offered enhanced Chen’s knowledge in coding, teaching her different coding languages  such as C, Python and Java and algorithms that extended what she had learned in AP Computer Science.

She walked away from the program with a passion for coding and an understanding that she could take her interest in coding further than just a hobby.

At the program, a Girls Who Code staff member approached Chen and Jain about starting a club at Saratoga High. Since much of the organization’s money comes from publicity, the enrichment program ensures that the students have information on how to start clubs at their own schools. Not only does the organization provide information about possible instructors, but it also offers a monthly curriculum.

The girls spoke to new computer science teacher Judi Heher about being their adviser and using her room to host the club.

“We got really lucky with our teacher adviser, and [Heher] is really excited about it too!” Jain said.

Under Heher’s guidance, Chen and Jain plan on teaching students various coding languages, similar to the types they learned over the summer. Some of the coding languages that students will learn in the club are Python, Java, JavaScript and Hypertext Markup Language.

“The coding languages that we will teach [students] will be less intense since it’s not that advanced, but we plan on teaching multiple projects,” Jain said.

According to Chen, projects in the curriculum revolve around a monthly schedule, and at the end of the year, girls in the club will have the chance to build their own project.

Because Girls Who Code requires clubs at schools to run for one to two hours per meeting, their club will be an after-school program instead of an on-campus club. In order to allow middle school girls as well as high schoolers to join their club, they plan on having afternoon sessions once or twice a week.

“Because this is kind of a ‘nerdy girl’ [program], I hope girls won’t be scared to try it out,” Jain said.

As of now, they are still in the process of trying to make an official program. Girls Who Code replied to them on Sept. 23 and the girls met with Heher on Sept. 28. They hope to begin their club by the end of October.

Once the club is set in motion, one of the club’s main goals is to host speakers to inspire girls to pursue careers in technology.

“I hope the club inspires local girls to realize how coding is a skill they can use to change the world,” Chen said. “I want the club to provide them with the coding knowledge they need to build things such as apps, websites or games.”