A Community that Codes

Every week students from Grinnell College visit Grinnell Middle School to teach 4-8th graders about computer programming and robotics. These students are part of the Grinnell chapter of Girls Who Code (GWC) — a club open to students of all genders that teaches skills for tech fields. Grinnell College has had a GWC presence on and off, but the current chapter started in 2022 with Mia Hines ’24 and expanded to include volunteering with the middle school in 2023. 

When Hines sent out her initial email, a few Grinnell College students jumped at the chance to participate. Maria Rodriguez ’26 says, “I am a computer science major and wanted to be in the community, so this felt like a cool chance to do that.” Joyce Gill ’26 and Grant Sackmann ’27, also computer science majors, both had prior interest in outreach and teaching they wanted to pursue while at Grinnell.  

Rodriguez, Gill, and Sackmann, as original members of the current chapter, are now the directors of the club. They came into leadership because they didn’t want the club to fade away after Hines graduated and were mentored by their peers to step into their roles. They now mentor new peers and middle school students and are glad they can lean on each other to navigate leadership and expand the reach of the club.

Expand they did. The number of college students involved has doubled and is not limited to computer science majors, but anyone with basic coding and teaching skills and a desire to be involved. The new leaders want to include a wide variety of students and have worked with the Center for Careers, Life, and Service to incorporate service leadership work-study and mentoring into the program so more people can be meaningfully involved. The Ragnar Thorisson '11 Endowed Memorial Fund for Social Justice funds many of the costs associated with GWC. Gill says, “We’re so thankful for the CLS and the donors. The program could not be what it is now without them.”

The primary services offered by the program happen in the afternoon after classes at the middle school. Grinnell GWC teaches type-based programming to 6-8th graders and, more recently, block-based programming to 4-5th graders. Both groups also learn robotics. 

Rodriguez and Gill say that the middle schoolers are so excited to be part of the program. Previously, there had not been any computer science or robotics courses in the curriculum until high school, so the students were eager to learn new things. Rodriguez explains, “Now there is a new computer science teacher, and the students are advancing quickly and are very vocal about asking to do projects that interest them.” Gill continues that “the 4th and 5th graders are so enthusiastic. They love to play with the robots.”

One 5th grade student said, “I really like being in this club because we get to learn new things like how to use the robots and code them.” A 4th grader followed up saying, “I like to learn codes and eat snacks!” If the giggling though giving examples of different data types is any indication, the middle schoolers clearly have a great time learning from the GWC members. 

The GWC members each have different roles, and Sackmann is one of the people who works directly with the kids at the middle school. He says, “I get to reap the rewards of going there. There was one time when we had a lesson about loops and they really weren’t getting it, so I asked them, ‘how do you go up the steps?’ and eventually we got to the point of ‘left foot, right foot, repeat’ and I could see it click for them which was really fulfilling.”

The feeling of fulfillment is what drives many of the members. They have gotten a lot out of the club and are planning to take what they have learned with them after Grinnell. Sackmann has already been seeking teaching roles and internships and plans to continue with that work once he graduates. Rodriguez intends to go into industry and do data science/analytics around climatology and hopes to find a job that allows her to continue doing education as a hobby. And Gill notes that she really found her place through Girls Who Code and is now pursuing a PhD in AI and Education. She says, “I never thought I would get the opportunity to build a program like this, especially as an undergrad. It’s sometimes overwhelming, but I’m also so grateful.”

If you have interest in learning more or joining Girls Who Code, email girlswhocode@studentorg.grinnell.edu