It may be summer break, however for Todd Middle School student Nydia Silvera, the third week of June was one she had been waiting for – not for a vacation with her family or a day at the beach with friends, but for a four-day girls only coding camp.
Yes – coding camp.
The camp’s initiative is the first of its kind for Donna ISD and one that is meant to steer young women into the fast-growing fields related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, technology professionals will experience the highest growth in job numbers between now and 2030, but only a fraction of women are likely to pursue degrees that enable them to fulfill these new jobs. DISD hopes to change that with coding inspired camps like this one.
Science Director Emily Anderson was pleased with the turnout. “We know, from being in the classrooms, that some girls feel more comfortable taking an active part in a group when there aren’t boys around,” Anderson said. “They’re more likely to participate and take leadership in hands-on activities and discussion. Socially, girls still tend to take a back seat and allow boys to stand out.”
The event dubbed “CODE: Girls” provided various coding activities for 5-7 grade female students. “In the “CODE: Girls” camp they used multiple coding programs such as Scratch, Scratch Jr., Blockey, Spark, and Turtle Art. They used these programs to code EV3, LEGO Mindstorm and WeDo, Sphero, Ozobots, Cubelets, and drones. They also developed key collaboration and communication skills through completing drone and Sphero obstacle courses, as well as several challenges with LEGO WeDo.”
Silvera was excited to participate in the camp. “The most fun thing we’ve done is fly drones,” Silvera said. “We learned how to control them using a joy stick. We learned to turn them around, rotate them towards our direction, and adjust the controls. We then had to go through obstacles and races to help us get the hang of it. Every day was a new challenge. The more challenges there were, the more fun we had with each other.”
Todd 6th grader Layla Ramos had the opportunity to participate in several activities but her favorite was the Sphero. “I enjoyed working with the Sphero,” Ramos said. “I loved moving it around, changing the colors, and programming it. It’s really fun to actually remove it and drive it around.”
Lauren De La Garza, a fifth grader from Adame Elementary, said she had so much fun working with the Lego Education app. “We built a crocodile and a lion,” De La Garza said. “We had to make the crocodile’s mouth open and close really fast and the lion stand up and sit back down. We also had to throw in a roaring sound which I thought was pretty cool. We also got to pick our own challenge. My team did a sailboat. We had to make it rock back and forth and make ocean noises.”
De La Garza said being in this camp has piqued her interest even more in math and science. “I think what I’m learning will help me in the future,” De La Garza said. “I plan to study to be an engineer who designs prosthetic limbs for injured ocean animals.”
Anderson feels the district is making a difference by providing more STEM opportunities to female students.
“We have seen a lot more interest from female students now that opportunities are more available,” Anderson said. “Donna ISD introduced two new computer science courses in middle schools this year, and most schools had about 50% female enrollment. Student feedback from those courses, and our camp, overwhelmingly shows that girls are now more interested in careers that involve coding. I think opportunity is the key; sometimes our students don’t even realize there are careers that involve coding, and girls still think that STEM careers are for boys. Camps like “CODE: Girls” introduce them to not only the skills, but also make it super fun and engaging.”
Donna ISD News 