UNC Pembroke in collaboration with the Lumbee Tribe established a Girls Who Code club designed to support and increase the number of women in computer science.
A total of 15 girls from the Lumbee Tribe Boys and Girls Club recently completed a 10-week program aimed at building character and coding skills while creating a project and receiving mentorship from women working in the technology field.
The girls who range from sixth to 10th graders were tasked with using computer science skills learned from the program to solve a problem relevant to their community. They chose Native American mental health. During a graduation ceremony at UNCP on April 30, participants presented their impact project to program stakeholders.
Several of the girls discussed mental health issues that have affected them, their family, and friends. They created a website which offers contact information for individuals seeking assistance. The girls also created interactive stories using computer code. Several UNCP staff, faculty and students helped facilitate the course. Participants also heard from guest speakers from Cisco as well as UNCP professionals.
The club’s project can be viewed at https://sites.google.com/view/uncp-ltnc-gwc2019/home