Looking for Student Leaders to help out with PalosCoders

Hey y'all! It's me again. I promise this post will not be as long as my previous post(sorry about that) rather, it will be relatively short...I guess not. But please, hear me out:

You may have heard about the Girls Who Code club at Stagg and if not, here is a brief description of Girls Who Code: GWC is a national organization that is committed to closing the gender gap in technology specifically in Computer Science. By 2020, there will be over 2.1 million jobs in the tech industry, yet only 5% of those jobs will be filled by women. Unfortunately women are poorly represented in this industry because of these beliefs of "stereotypes" that "women are not made to code." At Girls Who Code, a national organization, is COMMITTED to closing the gender gap for once and for all. They have multiple programs allowing girls to learn how to code consisting of their campus programs, summer programs, and afterschool clubs. Since its inception in 2012, there are over 90,00 GIRLS ACROSS THE NATION learning how to code, using their knowledge and support to pursue their computing dreams and breaking this "gender gap barrier." Thanks to this organization, there are more women majoring in Computer Science than in the past 20 years. For those that do not know, computer science is one of the few majors that are heavily dominated by men. Girls Who Code is an unique platform that truly inspires girls to go beyond their limits, breaking barriers that were once unbreakable (i.e. An all women team working on one of NASA's spacebots, girls making an app to track human trafficking, and much more).

By participating in this program for 2 years cultivated me in a person in ways I can not explain. Not only did I learn how to code, I learned how to become an effective leader and to take risks. Although taking risks are never easy, I always take risks regardless of the outcome. One of the biggest risks I ever took was quitting my passion for competitive running (Fancy way for Track) to make a difference in the Stagg Community by creating a Girls Who Code club- teaching girls that you can certainly change the world through code. Sure you can say that I manage both Track and Girls Who Code but at the same time, Track RUINED my reputation, the Stagg program scars me...it’s a controversial topic that I can discuss in a later post. As previously mentioned, I launched a Girls Who Code to teach girls that they can change the world through code and to start a club that is entirely unique in its own form than compared to other “traditional” club at Stagg. Little did I know, I was making an impact at Stagg by establishing the FIRST COMPUTER SCIENCE CLUB IN THE DISTRICT. I truly appreciated how the guidance counselors were “congratulating” me for bringing this organization to Stagg and students looking up to me for being a “leader in tech” , however, at the same time, NO ONE JOINED THE CLUB. Honestly, I never felt like a “big loser” than this before- I would dedicate over 10 hours or so per week planning club agendas, activities, and all that good stuff. I felt like I spent more time on advertising than anything else. As the saying goes, “the more you put in, the more you get out of it”...well… I am a complete failure... We only had 5 or 6 “committed” students in the club, a maximum of 14 participants and an average attendance of 4 student; one time there was only 2 people that showed up. It made me realize that no one really wanted to be apart of this club, everyone is so desperate about “perfecting their applications” it sickens me. Someone had the audacity to tell me that “oh. I’m not joining your stupid coding club because I don’t want THIS club to be on my transcript. If I was president, then yeah.” OK. WHY IS EVERYONE SO DESPERATE ABOUT WHAT EXACTLY IS ON THEIR TRANSCRIPTS. It sickens me, I mean, everyone does clubs just so it “looks it goods on their transcript” but for real, no one really joins a club to enjoy the club or be an active participant….you just come to a meeting, listen to presentation, and ya out. This is literally one of my BIGGEST pet peeves. I love how desperate everyone on their reputation, but I don’t care one bit of doing something for “application reasons” not to brag about anything, but I received a NATIONAL AWARD based on my involvement and interests in computing. I simply do stuff that I love, hoping that I make an impact on the littlest things. I feel like I’ve been going on a rant lately, but my failure with this club made me realize some disturbing things about Stagg and the whole D230 Administration- for one thing, everyone is attached to doing everything for “application reasons” and the lack of STEM opportunities that are given to students.

To realize that there was a lack of participants in Girls Who Code is one thing, but the fact that there are little to no “STEM Opportunities” for students at Stagg (and in the community) disturbs me the most. I had no idea this was an issue until I met the Science Division Department Chairperson, Mr. Joe Sieczkowski. Now let me tell you about Joe, this guy is a STEM fanatic- he’s been apart of the D230 Administration for only a few months but has made a MAJOR IMPACT on the Stagg Community: he was the director of the Stagg STEM Night where over 100+ students attended, created the VEX Robotics team, and created a D230 STEM Board and guess who is on it? Me. Anyway, it’s truly a blessing to have someone that is devoted to providing students opportunities to succeed in the STEM/CTE Fields. There are multiple Districts out here that connect students to internships and all these “high end” “elite” opportunities that most kids never heard of. For instance, CPS has this program for their students to intern at Major Chicago sites/companies.

I guess this is a long story, but I guess the experience I hade and the people I met along the way whom made an impact in their communities made me want to make an actual difference in the community- I think I found my purpose….I remember Karol telling me to “screw the administration” and to “make an organization of some sort.” Well that is exactly what I’m doing and this is why is NEED YOUR HELP- I’m starting an organization by the name of PalosCoders.

IF YOU ARE SCROLLING THROUGH THIS ARTICLE, READ THIS PART!!!!

I’m still in the planning stages of the organization, but essentially PalosCoders is going to be an organization where we connect students to STEM/CS related organizations to check out to build experience and to network with students of similar interests. Well..that is part of the organization..really I think it’s going to be a site with not only a list of programs to do, but we will be hosting “coding workshops” where instructors(student ambassadors) will teach students how to code. Additionally, we will be making our own coding tutorials and resources that teachers/schools can use to launch their own coding clubs in the area. And on top of that, we might be doing some community events...again...that is still in the planning. I guess the real reason why I came here is that if you are interested in helping me organize this organization and just being an advocate for STEM/CS education, then help out with PalosCoders. Feel free to follow our twitter page @paloscoders. Any questions or if interested in helping out, feel free to comment below or email me @ monikapara0@gmail.com

Thanks!

I apologize for the long post