Girls Who Code Summer Camp Coming to Morristown

Morristown High School is hosting two Girls Who Code summer camps for girls in 6th-12th grades. Both the middle school and high school groups will run from July 17th to July 28th, 2017 at Morristown High School, 50 Early Street, in Morristown, NJ. Girls from all areas are invited to register.

The two-week summer camp experience is the first of its kind for Girls Who Code, which until now has only run 7-week summer immersion programs. The camp is being offered in a shorter, 2-week format for girls who are interested in learning about coding in a way that will fit into their summer plans. Girls from 6th to 12th grade are invited to learn coding in a fun, safe environment where they are not the only girl in the room.

Girls will learn to code alongside 25 other girls and will join an alumni network of tens of thousands of girls across the country who are using computer science to solve problems they care about. Beginners welcome; no experience required!

Morristown High School has a strong offering of girl-friendly science & technology initiatives, including a Girls in STEM club, a Girls Who Code club, and having run an all-girls engineering class in 2013-14.

Mariel Kolker, the teacher behind these initiatives and a female engineer herself, says, “Our society quietly discourages girls from participating in the hard sciences, engineering and coding. We need to do everything we can to level the playing field in order to bring more girls into these fields.”

Computer programming is currently one of the most sought-after degrees after college graduation, and demand for graduates continues to grow. Currently, women represent only 18% of the population of computer science college grads, down from 40% a few years ago. “Clearly, this problem is not going to fix itself,” says Kolker.

To register for the classes, visit https://www.smore.com/d2gg4. The classes cost $1200 for the two-week course, and scholarships are available.