This school holidays Girl Geek Academy is inviting over 70 young girls to attend the world’s first ever hackathon for girls ages 5-8. Miss Makes Code will be held at Templestowe College in Victoria, Australia from 9am-3.30pm on September 22, 2016.
Find out more and buy tickets here: girlgeekacademy.com/missmakescode
Girl Geek Academy CEO said #MissMakesCode is a deliberately curated learning experience surrounded by friendship, laughter, fun and support from other girls and expert teachers.
“I learned to code in kindergarten and after coding my first game I fell in love with the magic of building things with computers,” Moran said.
“We wanted to create a memorable opportunity for young girls to enter the world of programming, and start to build the confidence and ability to understand our world at its basic level of binary data.”
“MissMakesCode will develop an early introduction to coding and celebrate the fact STEM is a girl’s domain too.”
The event is an initiative created by Girl Geek Academy member, Principal Teresa Deshon, who has been teaching girls IT for the last few years at schools throughout Victoria.
“We know it is necessary to get to girls when they are young to build the confidence and expertise they need to really make a big impact as digital professionals,” Deshon said.
“The intellectual and creativity thinking skills in students ages 5-8 is exceptional and largely untapped. They see the world and learning in all it’s possibilities and wonder, meaning they are open to learning cognitive skill development.”
Activities on the day will focus on skills and strategies to develop algorithmic thinking and creative problem solving. Practical hands on tasks where all levels of success are recognised, ensures that all girls who participate will fast track their journey in computer science and coding.
In 2014 Girl Geek Academy hosted #SheHacks, the world’s first all-female hackathon, and the organisation has continued to produce events that push women to enter and succeed in technology careers. These include #SheMakes, an all-female makerfest where women explore emerging technologies including 3D printing and wearables, and #SheMakes_Games, a one-day event where women explore the options of a career in the games industry.
In 2016, Girl Geek Academy launched a junior brand to target young girls. The Miss Makes range of events was launched with Miss Makes 3D – a set of workshops aimed at encouraging young girls to learn about 3D printing. Miss Makes Code is the second event in this series.MissMakesCode