By Cathy Miller

Over several decades, computer science and coding has essentially become the new measure of literacy. Centuries ago, the most powerful people were those who could read and write. Now, with technology impacting all walks of life, it’s the people with tech-related skills who will shape the future.

In Spring 2014, Warren Hills Regional High School senior Adesola Sanusi, with guidance from WHHS Computer Science teacher Daryl Detrick, launched GirlsCodingWithGirls.

Now in its sixth year, WHHS’ unique, national award-winning program is a twice-annual, six-week session where high school girls studying computer science mentor 4th-8th grade girls using code-based lesson plans created by the high schoolers themselves.

The mentees learn computational thinking and how computers are used to solve problems from near-peers, who open their eyes to opportunities in traditionally male-dominated fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The program has grown from its first session in Spring 2014, which had 16 participants and eight mentors, to Spring 2020’s 36 participants and 15 mentors.

Emma Mele and Sarah Korczukowski, WHHS juniors, have each mentored five sessions of GCWG, since their freshman year, and each was a mentee before that.

Both girls are deeply involved in the WHHS community. Emma is a captain of the varsity swim team and pole vaults for the varsity track team. She is vice president of the school’s community service club, Key Club, and involved in Best Buddies. Sarah is a captain of the school’s field hockey team and plays for the Mid-Jersey Knights field hockey club. She helps with other computer science events, such as CodingWithKids and Hour of Code. She’s a member of the debate club and is applying for National Honor Society. 

After graduation, Emma plans to study to become a physician assistant or a biomedical engineer.

Sarah said, “I am committed to play Division 1 field hockey at Rutgers University where I plan on studying Aerospace or Software Engineering. I’d like to work for SpaceX or Google one day and hope to implement a program similar to GCWG at the collegiate level for older girls who want to learn the basics of computer science.”

Emma got involved with GCWG in elementary school, at 10 years old, when her cousin, a mentor, recruited her. She’s always enjoyed the problem-solving aspect of computer science and recalls wanting to be like the mentors when she reached high school.

A friend inspired Sarah to attend her first session in fifth grade, when she was 11 years old. Most appealing was the fact that high school girls were teaching GCWG. She said, “As an elementary schooler who looked up to the high schoolers, the fact that they were the ones teaching it made me want to do it.”

As mentors, their goals are similar. Emma hopes to “inspire girls to pursue what interests them and help them be confident.” Sarah said, “My goal isn’t to get every girl who goes through our program to major in STEM, rather I want to help raise the confidence within these young girls to pursue their goals so that they can be successful in whatever field they choose. I hope that confidence carries on in their daily lives.”

It’s clear that both Emma and Sarah relish their roles as teachers and mentors. Emma said, “I enjoy getting to know the girls and talking to them about their days.” She said during their pizza break, midway through each class, “All the mentors split up to sit with the girls and chat. I love being a role model for them and able to offer advice, even when it’s not related to computer science.” 

Sarah considers mentoring a learning experience both for herself and her mentees. “I enjoy interacting with and learning from the girls. I give the girls the tools to create, and then it’s up to them to create what they please. Problems always come along, and as a mentor, I don’t always have the answer, but I like sitting down and working through a tough challenge so that not only the girls learn something, but I do, too.” 

There is no special training to become a mentor. Daryl Detrick, who now advises the program, noted it’s helpful, but not necessary, if the mentors participated in GCWG in their earlier grades. The girls can begin mentoring at any point in high school, although it’s best to start before senior year since it takes a couple sessions to feel comfortable teaching. 

Mentor meetings are held after each coding class where “we encourage the mentors to be good role models,” Emma said, “We critique our performance collectively.” The new mentors take a more watchful role to start and learn as they go. Sarah added that most of the mentors have taken a computer science class at the high school level. Many are self-taught on the specific software used in class so they’re able to teach the younger girls how to code. 

Every Thursday, the mentors meet during lunch to coordinate the following Monday’s class. Sarah said, “We discuss lesson plans and who will teach, and anything we can improve on. Some of us will meet after school to write the plans and get everything organized.”

The participants are divided into two groups, experienced and novice. Most mentors work with one group each week, occasionally switching it up depending where extra help is required.

Regardless of which group they are in, each girl receives as much or as little individual assistance as needed. The inexperienced girls follow the same introductory curriculum as the experienced. With the experienced girls, Sarah and Emma adjust their lesson plans to keep returning participants interested.

For the last few classes of a session, the girls work on a final project. Each project begins with an idea the student wants to pursue. In the end, challenging themselves in design and execution, they all create a game or invention. The mentors advise them on how best to implement their ideas. On the last day of the session, the closing 45 minutes are dedicated to a “showcase” where parents are invited to view their daughters’ projects.

There’s a wide range of final projects, most of them user interactive – from trivia games to story games – or, often, recreations of classic video games like Snake or Pac Man. Girls who don’t make games design projects utilizing hardware in some way. Emma said, “I am always amazed by the girls’ creativity.” 

What does coding mean when applied to these games? “The girls use different commands that the software provides to add elements and images that bring their project to life,” Sarah explained. “They constantly have to problem-solve in order to make their games work.”

When asked where technology may take us, Sarah replied thoughtfully, “I think that technology will be a part of everyone’s daily lives in the upcoming years. There are endless opportunities that technology brings, so it’s especially important that our youth is inspired and educated about its uses because they’re our future. I think technology holds the potential to improve the lives of people all over the world physically, mentally, and financially.” 

Emma was deliberate in her assessment saying, “I hope we will be able to harness technology so that it’s being used to its fullest potential without causing unintended negative effects.” She added, “I’d like to take technology further into the medical field to improve the quality of life for everyone. Technology is the biggest new concept that will drastically revolutionize medicine.”

The impacts and importance of GCWG are evident.

“The impact of this program for me is the ability to be a confident leader and learn how to work with and teach different types of people,” expounded Emma. “For the girls, I think the greatest impact lies in their ability to look at computer science, or any new task, and be confident that they can learn whatever they want to learn. Allowing young girls to understand that they are amazing at math and science is critical to their self-confidence and allows them to feel comfortable taking those harder classes in high school.

“I think it’s important for girls to go into careers in computer science because society needs a wide range of people to work on solving problems for it to be successful,” Emma continued. “People from different backgrounds and with different ideas will be able to work with others to create the best solutions to society’s worst problems. Without girls in computer science to help solve these problems, we close the door on 50% of the world’s people and their ideas.”

The next session of GirlsCodingWithGirls is slated for Fall 2020. Girls of all experience levels in 4th-8th grades are invited to register.

Those interested in viewing the end-of-session showcase may visit WHHS on Monday, March 30, from 6:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

For more information regarding GirlsCodingWithGirls, email Daryl Detrick, faculty advisor, at detrickd@warrenhills.org.