Samsung Mobile and Girls Who Code (GWC) recently announced the winners of their joint mobile app development competition, Samsung Mobile App Challenge. GWC members were challenged to design and code a mobile app that addresses a need in their school or community.
Out of over 2,000 girls who participated from across the country, a five-girl team from Lincoln School’s Middle School Girls Who Code club – including Maia Carty ‘20, Sasha Floru ’20, Amiya Mandapati ’20, Dounya Bilal ‘20, and Grace Boghosian, ’19 – came in 3rd place for their app, “Rhapsocks”!
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The Rhapsodians set out to create an app employing mnemonic devices from popular songs. Their application, “Rhapsocks,” is designed to turn texts, notes, and study guides into fun, appropriate songs and raps to help students memorize important information. Regardless of age, students could use this app to improve their study habits. Click here to view the mockup the Rhapsodians submitted. Each member of the 5-girl team will receive a $100 gift certificate for their winning submission.
Girls Who Code is a non-profit organization working to inspire, educate, and equip girls with the computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities, partners with schools and other community-based organizations across the country to offer computer science education and tech industry exposure to 6th-12th grade girls throughout the academic year.
Head of School Suzanne Fogarty immediately set about getting the Girls Who Code clubs underway at Lincoln in her first year, feeling strongly that while “technology touches every aspect of our lives, currently women are grossly underrepresented in computer science” with only 12% of college graduates majoring in computer science today as compared to 37% in the 1980s. “We need to change that,” Fogarty stated plainly. “The problem is,” said Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code who visited Lincoln in September, “when it comes to science, technology, engineering, and math,…the girls aren’t showing up,” and so she’s committed herself to doing something about it. In partnering up with Girls Who Code, so is Lincoln.
Director of Technology and clubs instructor Doug Alexander believes “there’s more at stake than just teaching girls to program. It’s also about correcting an imbalance in the world of technology and adding the perspective of young women to the mix. They think about different problems and approach them in different ways, but if they don’t learn these high-tech skills they may never get the opportunity to show how coding can help solve those problems.” Saujani reiterated Alexander’s point in her talk to the Upper and Middle Schools, stating that “our girls are tackling real problems…, and are using technology to solve them and change the world. We are literally building a movement.”
The Lincoln School community is extremely proud of the Rhapsodians’ 3rd place finish in the Samsung Mobile App Challenge and all their coders for their excellent submissions only a few short months into the Girls Who Code curriculum.
(In photo attached: Pictured from left to right: Maia Carty ‘20, Sasha Floru ’20, Amiya Mandapati ’20, Dounya Bilal ‘20, and Grace Boghosian, ’19.)
