Fifteen 4th and 5th grade girls enjoyed a week of “Code Chicks,” a coding seminar, taught by Amelia Nickerson, rising Vandegrift junior. Funding for the camp was underwritten by a grant awarded to Nickerson from the National Center for Women & Information Technology.
“I chose to apply for the NCWIT AspireIT grant to teach girls how to code, because when I was in elementary school, I never had the opportunity to pursue my curiosity in technology,” said Nickerson. “When I got that opportunity in high school, I wanted to share my passion.”
Once Nickerson was awarded the national grant, she obtained the required local, nonprofit sponsorship from Viper Nation Education Foundation. Code Chicks aligns with the VNEF mission to support academic programs through private donations.