How’s that for a blog title?
Microsoft Small Basic is partnering with IGNITE Worldwide to run workshops that teach girls to code! In 6 workshops (from February to May), we’ll teach 414 girls to code! Coupled together with Microsoft DigiGirlz and local Girls Who Code efforts, in the next four years, we expect to see a large increase in women from Washington who pursue technology careers.
You can also find information about this event on the IGNITE Worldwide blog:
This is Holly and Sweety at the front (Holly taught, and Sweety hosted for us and helped put it together):
Mission Accomplished! On February 23rd, Microsoft hosted 54 high school girls and 6 teachers from the Federal Way school district! About 15 or so minutes into the workshop, all 54 girls (and many teachers) were programming with confidence! (Big thanks to our teacher, Holly and co-teacher, Kristi, for running point, and to all 45 of the Microsoft volunteers for setting up the machines, coaching the girls, setting up lunch, putting together the goodie bags, and chatting with the girls during lunch! Especially big thanks go to Sweety and Liz on logistics.)
I overheard one teacher who was surprised that the girls were all learning actual text-based programming so quickly and so well! They couldn’t believe it. The truth is, after you try to get girls to enroll in a computer science class, and it doesn’t happen, you get discouraged. It even begins to seem impossible. But, working together with IGNITE and the teachers, we pulled it off without a second thought. We have the right software (Small Basic is a language and IDE built explicitly for this purpose), the right teachers, the right support, the right content, we created the right environment in the room… the right everything.
Sweety helped host and run the event:
Did you know that in 1984, 37% of computer science graduates were women? Now, that number is only 18%. In 2020, there will be 1.4 million new jobs in computing related fields in the United States. US college graduates will only be able to fill 29% of those jobs! And what about women? A paltry 3% will go to women college graduates. Right now, 66% of girls age 6-12 are enrolled or interested in computing classes/programs. And it’s only 32% of girls age 13-17. And for women who are a college freshman? A miniscule 4%. People are wondering what’s happening. I talk to over 250 Middle School and High School students a year. I ask them what they’re learning and how hard it is. As it turns out, Java and JavaScript is what they’re learning, and it’s excruciatingly hard, even more so for girls (not sure why, but that’s how the answers go). It kind of makes sense. Java wasn’t made for kids or teenagers. It was made for adults.
But guess who Small Basic was made for? Kids, teenagers, students, and learners of all ages, starting at age 8! That’s why it works. That’s why the girls in our workshops are learning text-based coding in a matter of minutes. They find it fun and easy. It’s that simple. Why is it so fun and easy? We’re getting off topic, so please go read The Unique Features of Microsoft Small Basic.
Here, the high school girls watch Holly enter the code, and they learn what it does:
The girls had a blast chatting with the Microsoft ladies during the Table Discussion Time. They enjoyed the pizza. They were glued during the Panel (big thanks to our Microsoft panel ladies, Cindy, Chantel, Kristi, Jessica, Jenn, Mei-Chin, and Vazjier) to the fantastic answers and stories. (We kept it going for every minute that we could, and it would have lasted another hour with all the unasked questions they had!) And we ended with a bang, where they picked up a Goodie Bag: an Azure hackie sack, SQL Server shoelaces, .NET toys and other swag, Microsoft pen, Microsoft notebook, candy, an encouraging notecard hand-written by our volunteers, and a Code Challenges handout so they can learn to code at home! And after the Goodie Bag, they picked up an Azure T-shirt! Huge thanks to our coordinators Holly, Sweety, Liz, Kristi, and Jessica, and to our Microsoft sponsors, including Small Basic, Microsoft women’s organizations, Visual Studio, SQL Server, Azure, and Microsoft LifeCam!
The high school girls, coding with Small Basic (they’re creating fireworks with turtle graphics):
Here’s a game of where’s Waldo: Where am I in the above photo?
The girls learned to code, ate pizza, talked to encouraging women, engaged passionately with the panel, and got some awesome gifts from Microsoft. The girls left beaming, and all 45 Microsoft volunteers were excited to meet them!
Here is Holly, our instructor (you can see a few of our volunteers helping the students):
Another game of where’s Waldo: Where am I in this photo above?
Schools who attend IMAGINE events (and especially Small Basic coding workshops) often end up with girls making up upwards of 60% of the students in CS classes.
Holly and Liz are up front (Liz is on the left; she helped a ton with the logistics):
It was great to watch the room full of girls as they are first learning to code. You know, when their code does that thing they have been trying to do or when they try something different or new and see the results. At the end of the class, we got to see some of the girls’ creations. Many of the girls thanked our volunteers at Microsoft for showing them that coding wasn’t that hard. For several of these young ladies, it was their first time coding, especially real, text-based coding, as opposed to tile-based or block-based coding. The girls were excited that they had created their own shapes and picture of fireworks on the screen, using Small Basic’s turtle graphics. For many, their eyes had been opened to new possibilities. For us, those moments were priceless.
More of our volunteers in the background, spread out and ready to help (that’s Liz, in the background on the left side):
You can see the impact in the girls’ lives, by watching this video below, which features our previous Small Basic workshops from 2016 and 2015:
IGNITE Worldwide: Inspiring girls to become future STEM leaders
And there you go! Our next workshop is next week! We’re hoping to teach 80 more girls how to code!
Small and Basically helping teach girls how to program,
- Ninja Ed