Cheyenne company teaching the art of computer programming is launching a Cheyenne chapter of a national organization aimed at encouraging girls to further their computer skills.
The Array School last week hosted an “Hour of Code” to announce the creation of a Cheyenne chapter of “Girls Who Code.”
“It’s for girls who are interested in furthering their computer science knowledge and skills,” said Amy Surdam, of Array School. “So we’re excited to offer that to the Cheyenne community.”
The group’s first function will be a 15-week program that will begin in January with space for 15 students.Surdam said the Array School already has applications from 35 girls seeking spots in the program.
“And there’s still a week open for applications to come in,” she said. “So now we’re going to have the difficult challenge of how do we select the 15 (students) or how do we double the class size.”
The group is working now with 15 computers donated by Cheyenne residents, which were on display during the “Hour of Code,” during which both boys and girls were invited to try their hand at computer programming.
Microsoft is also lending a hand in creation of a “Girls Who Code” chapter in Cheyenne, said Ben McCain, a program manager for the company.
“We’re trying deeply to integrate ourselves with these types of efforts,” he said. “Not just in Cheyenne, but all across the country and throughout the world. Getting kids involved in programming and computer science as early as possible is really pivotal because in today’s economy, every industry revolves around this. There really is no industry that is not affected in some way by computer science and coding.”
