Last week, a summer camp teaching middle school girls to code, build their own websites and learn about the tech industry, was held at NC State. The camp, INTech Camp for Girls, was hosted in part by the Minority Engineering Program*.
INTech Camp for Girls was founded by Khalia Braswell, an NC State alumna who graduated in 2013, and who now works for Apple.
Camp counselor Nortee Louder, an NC State alumna who graduated in 2017, was glad to see a camp held at NC State that focused on teaching young girls to code.
“I think it’s great that it was hosted on campus,” Louder said. “I know from experience that there is such a disparity between women and men in STEM fields, so Khalia’s idea to help young girls learn to code is wonderful.”
Braswell echoed this sentiment in discussing why it was important for her to hold the camp at NC State.
“It was important to host the camp at NC State for many reasons,” Braswell said. “Our target age group is middle school girls so it is imperative that they see themselves being in a college setting. Additionally, this is where my career as a computer scientist began, so it’s full circle to now teach girls younger than I am that they could do the same. A lot of the camp staff and planners are alums of NC State as well, so that was a great addition, too.”
During the five-day camp, in addition to learning basic coding skills, camp attendees visited companies like Microsoft and American Underground, a startup company dedicated to providing office space to other companies. They also discussed issues such as terrorism, racism and human trafficking. Camp attendees then created websites dedicated to issues they found to be especially important.
Louder found this aspect of the camp to be enlightening.
“The issues discussed with the girls are of the utmost importance, and I think it’s good to teach young girls about what is going on in the world instead of shielding them from it,” Louder said. “It’s really enlightening; I was really impressed with a lot of the conversations they were having.”
According to Braswell, the motivation for these discussions came from her own experiences.
“There are a lot of apps and websites that exist just because,” Braswell said. “However, a lot of good can be done with technology, too. I found out my senior year that I could do research combining technology and social issues by being a part of the My Health Impact Network research team and it not only made me fall in love with tech more, but gave me a new purpose for being in the field. I want our scholars to have that same understanding.”
The camp attendees were mostly racial minorities. According to Braswell, this was by design.
“I started INTech because throughout my journey in technology, I have seen less and less women who are black or Hispanic in the industry,” Braswell said. “I’ve interned at many companies, I now have two technical degrees, and I work at the world’s largest tech company, and yet, I do not see many women of color in the industry. As a result, I want to provide skills for girls to learn technology early on so that they know it is an option for them.”
Braswell said that she learned a lot from the camp this year, particularly to never underestimate young women.
“I’ve learned not to underestimate the mind of a girl, no matter what the age,” Braswell said. “Our camp scholars take our curriculum and run with it. We’ve had camp experiences in the past where scholars would finish their work faster than we anticipated which puts the pressure back on us to make sure we are engaging them on a level that is appropriate.”
The INTech Camp for Girls concluded Friday, but Braswell expects to continue the camp at NC State next summer.
“We have received verbal feedback from the Engineering Department that we have their support so we plan to be back [at NC State],” Braswell said. “INTech will also host another summer camp in Charlotte, NC next month.”
* Editor’s note: this article originally misstated the sponsor of the camp.
