![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
WiSTEM hosts Techgirlz coding workshop to inspire youth about computer science
Women in STEM (WiSTEM) kick off their Techgirlz programming workshop by asking participants what coding is in their words. After, club members led the attendees in a series of coding exercises on the website Blockly.
December 4, 2022
Women in STEM (WiSTEM) organized an event for 12 club members to host their virtual Techgirlz programming workshop for girls of ages 11 to 14 on Nov. 21.
CompTIA, the organization that WiSTEM partnered with for the Techgirlz event, hosts similar workshops with other high schools in the nation. WiSTEM began planning for the event on Oct. 30 by assigning sections of the lesson to club members and by conducting two run throughs on Nov. 13 and Nov. 15. The workshop aimed to both develop the participants’ coding skills through various activities and inspire them to stay involved in STEM, per WiSTEM’s club mission to empower women in the field.
Club members kicked off the event by discussing real-world applications for programming while the participants shared their levels of programming experience in the Zoom chat. To introduce the thought process required to write a program, WiSTEM members completed exercises from the website Blockly with the participants. Through activities such as Puzzle and Maze, the attendees learned basic programming concepts such as while loops and if else statements.
“I hope that the participants were able to gain more exposure to the computer science field of STEM,” WiSTEM member Ipsita Mandal (11) said. “I also hope we piqued their interest in different platforms that teach programming such as Blockly, which was great because it had activities for people with none to lots of experience with programming.”
After walking participants through more advanced Blockly exercises, club members concluded the workshop by encouraging participants to explore other programming websites to learn more about the topic. Through the event, Ipsita hopes that the participants will continue to explore their interest in programming by delving into more complex topics.
“Just being able to teach the younger kids is rewarding both to them and to me as well,” Ipsita said. “It’s up to us to spark interest in them and it’s honestly really exciting to do that.”
