As a part of its emphasis in STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), the computer sciences gets a big push at Mountlake Terrace High School. Classes in computer engineering and programming are popular with students as they jump in to either test the waters of a STEM specialty or to pursue a STEM Honors Diploma in the computer science and engineering pathways.

But when Terrace student Jenna Oh began attending computer science classes at the school, she noticed the big disparity between the number of males and females in those classes.

“It was a little intimidating being in a space with just only guys,” Oh said.

Oh wasn’t the only girl in her first Terrace computer science classes, nor was she the only girl in the school who felt a little out-of-place in the male-dominated study of computer science.

Katarina Moye saw the disparity, too, as she worked her way through a number of the school’s computer science classes; she also wanted to do something about it – and to spend more time in one of her many passions, computer programming.

“I knew I wanted to start a coding club of some sort,” she said.

Thus was born the Girls Who Code club.

Started by Moye last year, the Girls Who Code club now draws upwards of 30 or more students–girls and boys–each time it meets on most Wednesday afternoons at Mountlake Terrace High School. 

The students who attend the club use the computers in Room 131, which is the classroom of computer sciences, engineering and robotics teacher Brandon Owings. They work individually or collectively on computer programming projects, creating games or other coding activities.

“We let the people in our club decide what they want to do themselves,” Moye said. “We give them many different opportunities, activities they can participate in. Then they choose their own path. That’s what we want them to do. Then we’re always there to support them or help them with whatever they need.”

With clubs in schools across the country, Girls Who Code seemed like a natural for Moye to base her new club on. 

“We went to their website; they have a ton of activities,” Moye said. “But then we kind of put our own ideas into it and do things we wanted to do. We were interested in making games and having a real social environment where we can work together.”

Coding is the work of instructing computers (and other machines) what functions to perform and in what order. At Girls Who Code clubs, coding takes the form of collaborative game-making, completing pico-CTF (cybersecurity) challenges, creating websites and just plain programming for fun.

While coding is taught in various classes at the school, the Girls Who Code club is designed with a different focus, Moye stressed. “Classes are more structured. There’s more things that you have to do,” she said. “But here you choose what you want to do, you find your own interests.”

While having less structure than the school’s formal computer sciences classes, the Girls Who Code club does have educational value that compliments the instruction that takes place earlier in the day. 

“Here we get (students) the resources they need, everything that they can use to learn how to code, even if you’re a beginner, intermediate or even a pro,” Moye said.

While the club is thriving during its second year, it actually got off to a slow start. Oh, who now co-runs the club with Moye, recalled her first time she came to the Girls Who Code club at Terrace last year.

“I remember coming inside the room and seeing absolutely no one except Katarina in the corner here, sitting by herself for the first meeting,” Oh said. “I thought, ‘Okay, good start.’”

The two juniors, who were in computer science classes together at the time but didn’t really consider themselves friends, bonded quickly over the opportunity to create something they were both interested in (now seniors, both Moye and Oh are both planning to major in the computer sciences in college starting this fall, Moye at UW Seattle and Oh at Western Washington University).

Oh recalls one of their first discussions. “Since we’re both here and we’re the only ones here, we should actually try doing something with this club,” Oh said. “We wanted a space to empower women in STEM and actually aid them and have a ‘no judgement’ space.”

“There should be a space for girls who are too scared to code themselves or too scared to get involved,” she continued.

As the faculty advisor of the Girls Who Code club, Owings has seen how the club is meeting the goals that Moye and Oh initially set forth last year. He shared an example of an unnamed student who initially enrolled in one of his computer science classes but struggled in it. 

“She spent the first week telling me she wasn’t smart enough to do programming and that her brain doesn’t work that way,” Owings said. “Because of her fears, she dropped the class. She still had friends in my class and started hanging out with them at Girls Who Code. Because of the club, she told me that dropping my class was a huge mistake, and she now knows she would have thrived.” 

The student, an underclassman with a revived outlook on programming now, plans on enrolling in one of Owings’ AP computer sciences before graduating from Mountlake Terrace, Owings said.

“Without Girls Who Code, she would have believed the lie and never seen herself as a student who can adapt,” he said.

In addition to the club’s focus on computer coding, the social aspect of interacting with other fellow-minded students has been an emphasis for Moye and Oh. In the past year, the club collectively raised funds at the school’s Holiday Bazaar, helped mentor a girl scout troop in computer coding and attended GeekGirlCon (a Seattle convention for girls who love science, technology and gaming) last fall.

And while the club is centered on empowering girls in the field of computer science, Moye and Oh emphasized that boys are welcomed to come. too. 

“We wanted–and still do–a co-ed space for everyone,” Oh said. “But we wanted it to have a focus on women in STEM. We’re not going to kick the boys out.”