WISE Kid-Netic Energy is inspiring local girls towards careers in computer science with a camp called “Codemakers”.

This week is the first time the all-girls camp has been in Steinbach says Jenica Woitowicz, one of Codemakers' instructors. She indicates the camp is being funded by a government initiative called CanCode which finances opportunities that help kids develop digital skills. Woitowicz adds that, because of this government support, Codemakers is entirely free of charge. 

The twelve girls enrolled in the camp this week will be doing activities that vary from 3D printing dog teeth to programming LEGO robots to surviving the zombie apocalypse using computer code. Woitowicz explains: “We try to always come at things from a hands-on perspective so we don’t just have theoretical knowledge. We want to do the coolest things we can because this isn’t school, this is camp.”

Only two days into the week, one young girl, Avery Kroeker, is already excited about Codemakers. “I love science and technology and computers and coding so this is my jam,” exclaims Kroeker, “I’d probably like my career someday to be computer related so it's nice to get the early learning.”

Woitowicz suggests some of her personal motivation for helping with this camp comes from the fact that only about 10% of computer science grads are women. She hopes that by showing girls, like Avery, how fun it is, Codemakers Camp might eventually spark a love of computer science in these girls that they may carry with them into their futures.

Codemakers watch 3D printer in action