I’m a high schooler trying to start a GWC (girls who code) club at my middle school, which essentially teaches girls the fundamentals of computing as well as other important skills, like leadership, teamwork, and communication.
It’s an amazing idea and I really hoped to be able to teach other girls computing since I didn’t get the opportunity to get exposed to CS when I was in middle school.
I reached out to my middle school vice principal and she was really rude. It was clear that she had little interest in approving it or helping me start it.
She said that she would have to find a teacher to sponsor the club.
Two months later, she came back and told me that the club could not exist. Keep in mind, all of the reasons she listed were not at ALL related to finding a sponsor. She could have told me those reasons right when I proposed the idea to her.
She told me that the times would not work because I would have to go to the middle school after my school ends, and my school ends much later than the middle school, and middle schoolers might not be willing to stay after school that late. Yes, that would be good reason for it to not work out, but again, she could have told me that immediately instead of telling me two. months. later. I also could’ve worked something out, if she had found a sponsor.
She told me that it wouldn’t be fair to boys because this was an opportunity just for girls. I don’t know, I just felt really shocked reading this. Wouldn’t be fair to boys?! There’s so much gender inequality in the US, and the gender discrepancies in STEM and computer science fields are huge! Boys have way more opportunities than girls in almost every aspect, including STEM and CS, and she wouldn’t be allowing me to t e a c h girls about computer science because it would be “unfair” and “against the school’s beliefs”.
Should I just keep my mouth shut and move on? I really loved the idea of teaching girls about computer science. It would be such an amazing and empowering experience for them.
She is allowed to do this. However, as @bjkmom said, you are not limited to the middle school. When my daughter wanted to start a theater group and the school couldn’t accommodate it, she and her friends wrote a grant proposal, got funds and then partnered with the local library. Look for organizations that might want to sponsor you. The local rec center, girl scouts, a temple or church. If others give you the same Resistance about making it all girls, I suggest that you consider compromising on that point. Make it “kids who code” if necessary but market heavily to girls. I understand your desire to support girls, but sometimes organizations have rules that require everything be egalitarian.
@bjkmom Unfortunately, my library is stubborn too :(. They have meeting rooms that cost money to borrow, and they’re really difficult to communicate with. They would refer me to another person, who would refer me to another person, etc. and they would say give long, beat-around-the-bush type responses as to why they couldn’t accommodate for it. I was going to do my GWC club at my library, but they won’t do it.
Yes the principal of the middle school can do it, they should try to help but often they don’t. Where there is a will there is a way. Principals have to pay or entice teachers to be the sponsor/ school leader and sometimes there is no teacher willing or no money to get them interested. Library meeting rooms where we live are the same way you have to rent them and you must be a town/city leader. Ditto with the high school hours longer than middle school. Look for no cost meeting space and do it on your own. Look for meeting spaces at pizza places. grocery stores, churches, small mom and pop restaurants, Starbucks, etc. Market heavily to the same girls you planned to at the middle school using social media and posting flyers at the school site. Hand fliers out to those parents picking up kids at middle school. If you are able, ask your last period teacher to let you out early to do this project or get early dismissal or study hall and talk to your principal to ok it. It is a good idea. Don’t give up!
Go to another middle school to propose it.
Once one school does it successfully, and you promote it, via your local news station, the other schools come around.
“Well, I proposed it to my local school but the timing didn’t work for them.”
Make sure to say, boys are allowed but the primary emphasis is for girls who have little experience.
Thank you so much! Your advice was so helpful! I didn’t realize how I could bring small groups of girls to little cafes or pizza places or Starbucks. That could actually make it even more fun, but unfortunately that limits the number of girls who could join (which is okay, i don’t mind). Thank you!
I actually thought of something new - my high school is open til very late because of constant after school activities, sports games, rehearsals, events, etc. I think it would be reasonable to talk with my high school cs teacher and principal and ask them if I could borrow a room every other week. I’m sure they won’t mind.
I’ll have to find sponsors for food, T-shirt’s, stickers, and other things to attract people to come. I’m not sure if local businesses would be willingly to give food or money, but I guess I’ll have to try when Summer starts.
But its hard to get through the red tape of public schools sometimes. I still remember volunteering for a PTA event at our school, it got switched to a saturday, and they wouldnt let us hold it inside the building because we didnt fill out forms to pay for the janitor. It was crazy! and we were the school’s PTA!
so - how about at local boys or girls clubs? elementary school? large day cares that have elementary aged’ kids? what about at private schools? or maybe part of a summer VBS program? VBS programs have started to focus on really teaching kids things to draw in students. (like soccer/cheer/art/coding etc). Maybe your parks and rec dept has a facility? Our local community college has a kids college every summer where people put together ideas to teach themes . … maybe through something like that? What about hosting an event for some local girl scout troops? maybe the local girl scout council could get you in touch with some groups and help spread the news. sorry about the middle school; there might be other options if you think about it . . .
@bgbg4us Woah, thanks for the advice! I haven’t thought of any of those things so far! Thank you so much!
Unfortunately there are no local boys or girls clubs. Private schools are too far. I do not attend a church that has a VBS program. I went to my local community center, but they CHARGE kids for all programs… like $150 for a STEM program, which sucks because I’m offering to teach kids for free.
I will definitely consider going to my local community college and asking if I can borrow a room there once every other week. I will also try to reach out to my local girls scout troop (not sure how girls scouts works) to see if they would be interested in learning about coding.
Why do you need to found this? Are there zero other organizations in your community encouraging girls in stem that you could join and offer help to? In a thread, you asked for CS EC ideas. If this is for college, you may be far better off finding someting existing. You’re a soph now. Getting this rolling, getting the word out and recruiting girls available when you are, learning how to create the right syllabus and formats, etc, takes time. And savvy.
You’ve talked about having issues in math. It seems you’re currently in APCS? Want to tell us the coding skills you have that will allow you to teach this to a group?
It’s noble. But founding things fresh isn’t a special tip. Rather, it’s the ways you collaborate, stretch, learn from experienced others, enhance your skills and the range of them. that grows you.
OP, no matter what, you’d do well to have an adult sponsor. Perhaps some companies nearby might be willing to help out? Many companies are interested in helping to close the gender gap in tech. That would also allow for the group to continue after you move on.
Of course. My question still holds. Why can’t a 15 year old find an existing org or after school or other sort of mentor program?? Why start ftom scratch, (looking for meeting space, a teacher sponsor, funds, etc?)
Did you look at the requirements to start a club, including desktop or laptop access and internet? Having a facilitator is a requirement. As is being over 18. Not sure OP looked at these factors.
@lookingforward@InigoMontoya There are no existing organizations or clubs that actually promote girls in STEM near me. I would’ve definitely done that because it would be so much easier, but the closest thing to girls in STEM near me is the middle school tech club, which is essentially where boys (and a few girls) come together to play video games. I am not doing this just for college. I genuinely wanted to give other girls an opportunity that I did not have when I was in middle school. How would I look for local companies who would be willing to help out or sponsor? And yes, I’ve looked into the requirements to start the club. Middle school stays open til a few hours after school ends which means that I could easily borrow a classroom or lab room. All students already have their own laptops. The vice principal was supposed to find a sponsor, as she promised me she would, but she did not. When I asked a teacher to sponsor, she told the vice principal, who told me I could not reach out to anyone until she knew the club would go through.
I guess my question is what you hope to accomplish. If this is about empowering girls, there are plenty of organizations that already exist. If this is about educating about coding, start a blog Nd publicize it.
If this is about beefing up your resume by starting a club: college are well aware of this ploy. It doesn’t carry nearly as much weight as most 17 year olds seem to think.
@bjkmom …Yes, there are a lot of organizations about this topic. However, none are involved in my community or my middle school. GWC is a nation wide organization and I just wanted to have an extension of it at my middle school, but the vice principal refused, as I mentioned earlier. This is NOT for college and I’m not doing this just to add something to my resume.
@lookingforward I know the fundamentals of programming and JavaScript. I know a little HTML and CSS and will be learning more web dev over the summer. I will be attending a ios app dev boot camp this summer to learn swift and Xcode and will teach myself some more in my spare time.