Campers designed and developed a playable game relevant to marine research under the guidance of Sage Batchelor and Catherine Edwards as part of the first day of the annual Girls Code Games at the UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography.
The camp continued for the remainder of the week at Georgia Southern University Armstrong Campus.
Edwards, a native of New Orleans and co-founder of the event, started her career in STEM when she enrolled at the University of North Carolina to study physics and began looking for summer jobs. She found a job in New Mexico, which allowed her to travel and further her studies. As an oceanographer, Edwards is currently studying the mechanics of the ocean and contributing her knowledge to the camp.
Batchelor, a rising high school senior at Savannah Arts Academy, is also the co-founder of Girls Who Code Savannah Chapter. When asked where her passion for STEM, Batchelor credited her mother, Sari Gilbert, who teaches at SCAD. Her mother helped her to begin coding in the third grade alongside her brother by getting the two children a programming instructor.
Credit: Courtesy of Michael Sullivan
Credit: Courtesy of Michael Sullivan
By the time she reached the fifth grade, she had begun instructing classrooms on how to code.
Edwards and Batchelor's mission was to design a welcoming, engaging and memorable camp where participants would learn about gliders and sail drones, including what they perform, how they are programmed, what kind of data they produce and their data usage.
“Our requirements were that applicants be in middle school. We also looked at which schools had access to coding when considering candidates. We wanted to make sure those who did not have access to coding at their schools, could still get introduced," said Batchelor.
Credit: Courtesy of Michael Sullivan
Credit: Courtesy of Michael Sullivan
Over 100 applicants from middle schools in Savannah were received.
According to reports made by Stem Women, "...[W]omen are outnumbered in the majority of science, math, and engineering fields. In 2018, women earned 36% of STEM degrees." Batchelor wants to break the algorithmic bias that she feels occurs.
At the camp, three sessions ran concurrently. An educational presentation was given by Catherine Edwards, a wet lab was conducted by Frank McQuarrie and instructor Karen Dreger held a glider dry lab during these class sessions.
Overwhelmed by the support she has received, Batchelor attributes the program's success to all of her sponsors who made the camp free for attendees, as well as to her mother, Gilbert, Co-Founder Edwards, and Creative Coast, which assisted in connecting the two founders.
The City of Savannah, UGA Marine Education Center, Georgia Southern Business Innovation Group, and Elevate Savannah are among the program's sponsors.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Local students get hands-on STEM experience with annual Girls Code Games summer camp
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