What are the Girls Who Code Club?
Interviewed different members of the club to find out what it is about and why more people should join
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The Girls Who Code club aims to get more girls involved with STEM and explore different career options by holding coding projects and competitions. “We’re also planning to do community service projects by partnering with a nonprofit to deliver a day camp for elementary and middle school-aged girls to help them learn more about STEM,” explained club president Lakshanyaa Rajkumar Sudhakar.
Every few Thursdays after school, the club meets in Ms. Iwig’s room (606) and has an amicable and welcoming environment. Many club members say that it’s the collaborative setting that keeps them attending meets. One member, junior Brooke Dohrmann says that even though they haven’t started any competitions yet, she’s still loving the community in the club and working through the tutorials. “My friend’s the president of it and I wanted to help her out with it. I also have a general interest in coding,” she said.
The club was originally started by junior Lakshanyaa Rajkumar Sudhakar who said, “I initially started this club when I saw how in Waukee in engineering and technology classrooms there weren’t a lot of young women in the room and I felt like an outlier… So I thought that if we can motivate and empower them to show them that they’re not alone on their journey, we can show them how to succeed in a male-dominated field.”
Once competitions start, Lakshanyaa says they will most likely be in a virtual format with members submitting a coding project to fit a specific theme. “There is one coming in March where we have to explain how AI can be used positively and we’re expecting a few people to enter into that,” she stated. For now, the club focuses on finding various members’ interests so that Lakshanyaa can accurately make plans in accordance with them.
She says that anyone interested in STEM is encouraged to join the club as they are not alone and there are plenty of other people with similar interests. Since competitions haven’t started yet, now is the perfect time to join, build up skills, and collaborate with others.
