On Dec. 12, the talent of New Jersey’s next generation of female coders and computer scientists will be on display at NJIT, as more than 350 girls grades six-10 from Newark’s public schools (NPS) will arrive on campus to take part in the city’s inaugural “Newark Public Schools Girls Who Code Showcase.”
The event, hosted by NJIT’s Collaborative for Leadership, Education, and Assessment Research (CLEAR), will feature a coding-based project competition among Newark’s after-school coding clubs supported by Girls Who Code (GWC) — an international nonprofit organization “working to close the gender gap in technology” and “inspire, educate, and equip young women with the computing skills to pursue 21st-century opportunities.”
More than 26 of Newark’s Girls Who Code clubs will present their “Impact Projects” to judges and attendees at the showcase. Each club’s Impact Project was developed this year to solve problems in the local community by applying coding knowledge and creative computational thinking to a range of product designs — from innovative phone apps to robotics.
Special guest speaker Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz will make opening remarks and First Lady of New Jersey Tammy Murphy will provide an opening recorded message at the event, which is set to take place during national Computer Science Education Week (Dec. 9-15).
“NJIT is committed to growing the pipeline of students in the STEM disciplines, so we are very happy to be hosting the Newark Public Schools Girls Who Code Showcase,” said NJIT President Joel S. Bloom. “This is an outstanding program that directly aligns with both NJIT’s mission and its strengths as one of the premier polytechnic universities in the nation.”
“I want to thank Girls Who Code for continuing to bring their vision, energy and resources to our students,” said Newark Superintendent of Schools Roger León. “Access to careers of the future starts today, which is why our collaboration with Girls Who Code in Newark is fundamental for our students, families, school district and city as broader commitment to provide a computer science education for every student in our schools.”
In Dec. 2018, León announced a partnership between Newark public schools and Girls Who Code to establish Girls Who Code clubs in 28 of the district’s elementary and high schools, providing more than 500 girls with resources for after-school programs designed to teach coding and other computer science skills. Girls Who Code has thousands of Clubs nationally, and its biggest clubs partnership in New Jersey by far is with Newark public schools.
Since the organization was founded in 2012, Girls Who Code estimates it has reached nearly 185,000 girls nationally through its programs.
“Girls Who Code is on a mission to close the gender gap in tech and change the image of what a computer programmer looks like and does,” said Tarika Barrett, chief operating officer of Girls Who Code. “And our work would not be possible without the support of incredible partners like Newark public schools, who help us bring more girls into computer science education and, ultimately, more young women into the tech workforce.”
The Newark Public Schools Girls Who Code Showcase has been organized at NJIT as part of an alliance-building effort to support women in fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by the STEM for Success initiative at the university’s College of Science and Liberal Arts.
“The Newark Public Schools Girls Who Code Showcase is a perfect example of bringing together organizations devoted to promoting success through STEM,” said James Lipuma, director of CLEAR at NJIT. “Working with GWC and NPS continues STEM for Success’s efforts to promote effective education for all.”
The STEM for Success initiative began through the NSF INCLUDES LiFE project at NJIT to help coordinate and develop resources and activities that promote STEM career readiness among young women from elementary school through college. Through the initiative, a partnership between NJIT and Girls Who Code helped launch NJIT’s seven-week Girls Who Code summer immersion program. The 300-hour program is designed to train 10th- and 11th-grade girls in areas of web development and design, robotics and mobile development, while offering them exposure to work at leading tech companies as well as mentorship from the industry’s top female engineers and entrepreneurs.
NJIT and Newark public schools are engaged in a range of initiatives to increase the number of the city’s students that attend NJIT and who are prepared for STEM careers. As part of a coherent effort to promote computer science education for all in Newark, Newark public schools and NJIT partnered with the Urban League of Essex County for the Newark Kids Code extra-curricular program, and Newark high schools now receive support from Microsoft’s philanthropic-funded TEALS (Technology Education and Literacy in Schools) program, which teaches coding, supported by volunteers from local technology companies who assist in the classroom.
