BRENDEN CLOWE
STAFF WRITER
Coding Club, is a new club this year at Moanalua for anyone who is interested in coding. The club was originally called “Girls Who Code,” but was recently changed to “Coding Club” because the club received much interest from boys who were interested in joining the club. With the help of STEM Capstone, AP Physics and AP Biology teacher Lori Mizue, teachers Veronica Pairmore, Daniel Ichiyama, and Joanne Kobayashi, as well as a sponsorship from the national organization Girls Who Code, seniors Kammi Matsumoto and Lillian Shibata, were able to create this club.
The coding club officers are senior Kammi Matsumoto; President, senior Lillian Shibata; Vice President, junior Kara-Lynn Yoneda; Recording Secretary, junior Bret Witt; Corresponding Secretary, junior Sarah Yamashiro; Treasurer and junior Rhynne Lee; Historian.
Club president Kammi Matsumoto and vice president Lillian Shibata created this club because they thought it would be a great addition to the already growing Computer Science curriculum and they wanted to encourage more girls to go into computer science.
“We originally wanted to create coding club to introduce more girls into coding and STEM overall,” Shibata said. Shibata’s goals are to help close the gender gap in coding and STEM, to build confidence, and to encourage positivity and teamwork.
Matsumoto admitted that at first, she was nervous about starting a new club in her senior year, but was glad that she did. With the Coding Club, she hopes to inspire not just girls, but everyone to try new things that could contribute to their careers.
“You don’t have to understand coding to join our club. But it will take time to learn. Right now, because the club is so new, I hope that it can just be a place that is fun and where everyone can be their unique selves without having to worry that people will judge them [on their coding skills],” Matsumoto explained.
“I also hope that our club will be a place for networking because we will be going to other schools, like lolani and Salt Lake Elementary, to learn as well as getting that sense of working with different people and learning how to teach/inspire younger kids to code,” Matsumoto said.
The 32 member group meets after school on Mondays and Tuesdays for about an hour. The club will also be hosting events throughout the school year, such as the Hour of Code where anyone can come try coding for an hour. The club already had two Hour of Code events on December 5 and 6, 2018 and hopes to have more.
Matsumoto explained that the club is also planning on going to Moanalua Elementary School or Salt Lake Elementary School to give lessons on coding to get more kids excited about the possibilities they have in their future if they know how to code.
“The process of creating this club was sort of stressful, but I really enjoy having this club because I get to bring unlikely people together into doing something common, like coding,” Matsumoto said.