It was about teaching young girls that they can do anything, including coding.
Cold Lake students took part in the annual Hackergal Hackathon on Wednesday, Dec. 12, as part of a nation-wide competition.
Teacher Amanda Boates gives Grade 6 students Rebekah and Morgan some coding tips.
After nearly four weeks of preparation, Art Smith Aviation Academy (ASAA) girls in Grades 6 to 8 participated in the Hackathon for the first time.
“There’s about 4,500 girls from all across Canada participating. That equates to about 160 schools across Canada. It had started off as a very small competition, and it’s slowly growing each year,” explained Amanda Boates, ASAA teacher who spearheaded the school's Hackathon.
It was after a parent brought the opportunity to ASAA principal Chris Vining's attention that they decided to take part in the annual competition.
Boates said Vining asked if she would take on the project, and she couldn't say no.
"As soon as I heard about it, I thought, 'yes, let’s do this, let’s get our girls interested in the coding program.'"
Chloe, Grade 7, and Julia, Grade 8, work on their code.
Boates continued, “It gives them more opportunities to help them open doors for what they can potentially go on to be, and it can help create amazing ideas and technologies for future generations to use, and it inspires young girls."
The Hackergal Hackathon has groups of students writing codes to create a program that tells a story. This year's theme was all about the environment.
Grade 7 student Vanessa Sylvian and her trio went with a storyline about extinction.
She was excited to show her fellow coders what her group managed to create using the Codesters program.
Also taking part in the competition was Autumn Peacock. The Grade 6 student was thrilled with the opportunity to learn more about coding.
“It’s a good way to inspire people and get them involved,” she expressed, adding she has learned that as little as 18 per cent of women are taking part in science-based careers.
Vanessa (far left) helps fellow students Ariana, Grade 6, and Isabelle, Grade 6, with their program.
“Most of the men are recognized, but not really that many women have their names (out there)."
What she liked about the Hackathon was it gave girls a chance to try something new and "see what coding has to offer."
"(It) opens their eyes to something they might not get to take part in otherwise," she added.
For Sylvain, it was important to show the boys that "we can do it too."
“There’s a very large gender gap disparity. There’s a lot more male representation in the industry than there is female,” Boates emphasized. “We’re trying to close that gender gap, because girls can be just as smart as boys, if not sometimes smarter than boys."
