Gir1C0de held its first meeting of the year on Sept. 28, where they discussed club details, received input from attendees and ate cookies. Gir1C0de is a club that supports girls interested in computer science by providing a safe, encouraging and collaborative environment to gain experience in STEM. Meetings are held on the last Thursday of every month in E269.
Although the first meeting of the year has already happened, new members of any experience level are still encouraged to join. The next meeting is on Oct. 26. Monthly meetings provide options for girls with no prior experience to get more involved in coding.
“If there are new people, we’ll introduce ourselves, find out everyone’s level of experience with code and how they want to use their work time,” said junior Hafsah Khan, a member of the Gir1C0de board. “We’re very flexible.”
Girls who are not involved in computer science classes at BHS are typically given a project that will help them learn to code.
“Girls who are in CSA classes and ECS classes at the high school can use this time to work on their homework or their projects, and get help from members in a collaborative environment,” Khan said.
Gir1C0de members can come to as many meetings per year as they want. The meetings not only provide an opportunity to connect with girls interested in code but also explore STEM as a path for the future.
“We’re going to have meetings where we bring in guest speakers, like women from different STEM fields to talk,” Khan said. “We’ll also have trips to local engineering companies so girls can see what it’s like to work in a professional STEM field.”
Ultimately, the club aims to help girls find their place and give them the guidance to strive for a future in STEM.
“By bringing in guest speakers and having students go on these field trips to other engineering companies, we want to show girls that the STEM field needs them,” Khan said. “We want to not only provide a safe space for girls to code, but also show them that STEM can be a career that they can pursue in the future.”
