Our Projects
Girls Crack the Code strives not only to empower girls to explore STEAM, but also implement the skills they learn to contribute to social good. Every session, students learn about a different aspect of STEAM, from mobile app development to mechanical engineering, which they use to address a relevant issue in the world. They present their final products to a panel of judges, consisting of STEAM professionals, in a Shark-Tank style presentation with a twist - everyone's a winner!
Summer 2020 - Girls Crack the Code
This session is focused on web development and the fundamentals of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Students will each choose a U.N. Sustainability Goal to learn about throughout the session, and they will create a website to address the global issue. With a strong emphasis on professionalism and effective communication, students will conduct themselves like businesswomen.
Summer 2019 - GIRL GIFTS
This session, done in partnership with Girls Scouts, worked towards introducing and educating students, from grades 3-6, on robotics and computer science. Kicking off the session with an introduction to the engineering design process and followed by programming instruction, students engaged in technical challenges through hands-on activities, tech talks, STEAM trips and more. Through the Take Action Project, students were able to create a solution to a social issue of their choosing, using their entrepreneurship skills and original ideas.
Summer 2019 - RISE GIFTS
This session, done in partnership with the RISE foundation - an organization dedicated to assisting under-resourced communities, concentrated on teaching and empowering under-served Hispanic students from grades K-8 on STEAM, through a series of computer science, technology, and social entrepreneurship workshops. These interactive activities challenged students to look at the world through a different lens and work through the “Design Thinking Process.”
Fall 2019 - MidKnight Inventors GIFTS
This session, done in partnership with the WW-P FIRST Robotics Competition team The MidKnight Inventors, was focused on teaching students in grades 4-8 the basics of JAVA and mobile app development. After picking a challenge from the 17 U.N. Sustainability Goals, students collaborated to create innovative solutions in the form of a mobile app. Using MIT AppInventor, students learned about the front-end and back-end coding that is involved in making an app informative, user-friendly, and aesthetically pleasing.
Fall 2019 - GIRL GIFTS
This session, done in partnership with Girls Scouts, was aimed to allow students in grades K-4 to have a fully hands-on experience with engineering and design. In a challenge called Boomtown Build, students were tasked with creating a town that addressed a sustainability concern in the real world. Using LEGO kits and working with others, students immersed themselves in a professional and collaborative environment in order to reach a common goal.
Winter 2020 - Chicas GIFTS
This session focused on introducing underrepresented Hispanic students from grades K-8 to computer science. Using the core values of teamwork, gracious professionalism and more, students worked through interactive activities that allowed them to think like engineers, programmers, and entrepreneurs. Students utilized these skills when building, designing, programming, and engineering their own robots. Through the Take Action Project, students researched and innovated a solution to a social issue of their choice in creative, out-of-the-box methods.