In Your Community: North Texas Girl Scouts Coding for Social Good

Can we teach girls to use technology for social good? In a coding camp for 6th-8th grade Girl Scouts in North Texas, we did just that.

Just a few days ago, the AT&T Women of Technology (AWT), teaming up with a local non-profit called Bold Idea, put on a three-day event to introduce girls to coding in HTML and CSS, as well as explore career possibilities in STEM. The event helped them think about how technology can solve real-world problems while helping others.

Girls want to change the world. In fact, a 2012 study by Girl Scouts of the USA found that 88% of girls surveyed want to make a difference in the world and 90% want to help people. The same study showed that if more girls learn that STEM careers can still achieve their goals to help and serve, more of them would pursue fields in STEM.

Through the coding camp, my colleagues helped show young women in our community how coding can solve world problems. Twenty four students divided into teams and worked with mentors to build websites for social good. Their websites represented issues important to them such as bullying and preserving the environment. After three days, the girls presented their sites to AT&T executives and members of AWT.

It’s exciting to think about what these girls will do with their futures. Their passion for learning about coding was evident, and I’m hopeful that this event demonstrated the impact they can have on the world through learning these important skills. As women of AT&T in the technology field, we can only hope to motivate and inspire the next generation of women leaders who will change the world, one website at a time.