The Higher Tech Minded Ladies (HTML) group at Southern Adventist University is currently offering free coding classes via Zoom.
The program has offered classes for middle school and high school girls in the Collegedale area for the past couple of years. But it has now transitioned to classes via Zoom to avoid putting students and instructors at risk for COVID-19.
The group is a branch of Enactus at Southern, which is led by students in the School of Business.
HTML focuses on teaching girls how to code in order to prepare them for careers in STEM fields. The group currently consists of about 20 students, most of whom are returning.
Senior finance major Allison Barreto and sophomore management major Lorena Alves, both co-project managers for HTML, said they have been working on improving the program in order to recruit more students and to continue serving the girls in the program.
According to Alves, the group opted to host the classes online rather than cancelling the project or putting the students’ or instructors’ healths in jeopardy.
“One of the major benefits can be the easy access for the girls,” Barreto said. “And, our amazing computer science majors have found ways to teach everything they need and still help them through Zoom.”
According to Alves, Zoom has allowed more students to be a part of the program while also providing more flexibility to the project managers.
Both project managers and their team are working to grow HTML as much as possible, not just locally but also nationwide.
“We want girls to build their confidence and learn way more than just app design,” Barreto said.
