Y GIRLS CODE | CHARLESTON, SC - YWCA GREATER CHARLESTON

WE'RE EMPOWERING GIRLS
by preparing them for high-paying #tech careers

CURRENT CLUBS

Our autumn 2021 Y Girls Code clubs began in September and are running weekly through early December. The clubs include:

Sanders-Clyde Elementary School | Grades 3, 4, 5 (see the flyer)
Kids on Point | Grades 6 - 12 (see the flyer)
Woodland High School | Grades 6 -12 (see the flyer)

HOW IT BEGAN

In 2016 we launched Charleston's first Girls Who Code club for middle school girls. We invited female students in the 6th to 8th grades at Sanders-Clyde Creative Arts School, a school with a high percentage of low-income students of color, to join a sisterhood of supportive peers as they learned coding skills and concepts.

Our goal? To economically empower girls, especially girls of color, by enabling them to enter a traditionally white male industry that pays high wages.

Today our original Sanders-Clyde Y Girls Code club members are still active, together attending the Syntax Code & Craft technology conference where they were mentored by women in the tech industry, and prior to COVID-19, representing YWCA.GC at events like local parades, visiting the local police department to learn how they use technology to keep Charleston safe, and attending the premiere of the historic blockbuster Black Panther.

2017 & 2018 Y GIRLS CODE CLUBS

Next, we launched three new Y Girls Clubs for elementary school girls: a second club at Sanders-Clyde, and new clubs at Morris Brown A.M.E. Church and Charleston Progressive Academy.

SPRING & AUTUMN 2019 Y GIRLS CODE CLUBS

In spring 2019, we launched six more Y Girls Code clubs, and then five more in the autumn of 2019.

SPRING 2020 Y GIRLS CODE CLUBS

In spring 2020 we launched ten more Y Girls Code clubs, ranging from the 3rd to the 12th grades. In late March we had to postpone the remaining club dates due to the coronavirus, but we are offered a virtual video series to our participants via Zoom during the remainder of the year:

Baxter-Patrick James Island Library, Club 1 | Grades 3, 4, 5
Baxter-Patrick James Island Library, Club 2 | Grades 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Charleston Progressive Academy, Club 1 | Grade 3
Charleston Progressive Academy, Club 2 | Grades 4, 5
Dorchester Road Regional Library | Grades 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Felix Pinckney Community Center | Grades 3, 4, 5
Johns Island Library, Club 1 | Grades 3, 4, 5
Johns Island Library, Club 2 | Grades 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Kids on Point | Grades 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Memminger Elementary School | Grades 3, 4, 5

How you can help

As we continue to expand our Y Girls Code clubs across the Charleston tri-county region, we're seeking volunteer facilitators. No experience is required. See the flyer and Contact Whitney!

Sponsor one girl's participation in a Y Girls Code club for $80... a low cost with a high return on investment! Your donation can change the entire economic trajectory of a Charleston girl's life, opening opportunities and networks she would never have otherwise.

SEE THE FLYER!

Empowering girls financially

In its Annual Wage & Job Growth Survey, the Charleston Digital Corridor announced that the average per-capita wage at companies participating in its 2021 survey were $101,710: an increase from the previous year average of $91,183. This number is more than twice South Carolina’s average wage of $46,230 and the Charleston region's average wage of $50,810, according to the latest (May 2020) data available from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Source: LowcountryBizSC, 11.09.21