NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH)–One New Haven school is hosting a free coding camp for girls.
Teens from the New Haven area were invited to the two week program at Holberton School.
“I’ve definitely learned a lot about coding,” said Najah Keyes, who is attending the camp that started Monday, “we’re learning how to make a website using JavaScript so that’s pretty cool.”
Teens with different levels of experience are learning new skills for this growing field. “I’ve coded in games and stuff before but not in Java so I’m learning a new language,” said Krishna Patel of New Haven.
The girls are getting the fundamentals of web development and even get to meet with local tech companies, learning what it’s like to work in tech.
“We don’t have a lot of women engineers,” said Keanna Jackson of Hamden, “it can make me almost six figures so I’m good with that!”
The percentage of women in computing jobs has actually declined since the 1980s, so the goal of the camp is to get girls thinking about their career options in tech.
“I think it’s so important that we really find ways to support young women getting into this field,” said Nadine Krause, director of Holberton School New Haven, “igniting their passion and hopefully helping them along the way to stay interested in this and to make a great difference.”