PROVIDENCE – Lincoln School and Sophia Academy will co-host the first all-girl hackathon in Rhode Island, Girls Hack the World, on April 22, Earth Day.
The coding event was started by the schools this year. It is modeled after Girls Who Code programming; the mission of Girls Who Code is to create a positive environment for women to be introduced to coding and to eventually balance the gender gap in the industry.
“I truly believe that in order to shift the male/female balance in tech, you have to be girl-specific,” said Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, in a statement. “When you’re looking forward, don’t take your eyes off of gender.”
Seventy-five female students in grades five through 10 will be asked to build and code apps, websites and computer-generated games during the daylong event in order to produce real-world solutions to challenges plaguing the state’s environment.
Sophie Houser, the event’s keynote speaker, is a Brown University sophomore and graduate of Girls Who Code. She is also the co-creator of Tampon Run and co-author of “Girl Code.”
“Before I started coding, I was very shy. I’d never raise my hand in class; I never thought what I had to say was important or smart. But [I had the opportunity to code] in an all-girls environment that was safe and comfortable and everyone in that room wanted everyone else to succeed,” said Houser in a statement. “Because of that, I learned to not be so afraid of failing. It allowed me to come out of my shell and become much more sure of myself. Exploring technology with a very diverse group who shared in the experience of sisterhood was a transformative experience.”
Both Lincoln School and Sophia Academy are all-girl independent schools that integrate coding into their academic curricula. Lincoln School has plans to break ground on a new $5 million STEAM Hub for Girls in June.
Sponsors for Saturday’s event include: Microsoft, Konica Minolta, Cox Communications, Dassault Systemes, Ximedica, Center for Women and Enterprise and Girls Who Code.
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a PBN staff writer.
