Girls Who Code are getting a chance to combine science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math at a two-week day camp in Warren this summer.

The Girls Who Code program is an established STEM curriculum, according to Facilitator Angela Cornelius of Big Level Arts and Cultural Center of Mt. Jewett. The local program is a collaborative involving Big Level Arts and Culture, the Northern Pennsylvania Regional College (NPRC), and the Allegheny Community Center (ACC).

An information and registration session will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the ACC. Cornelius will be on hand to answer questions and talk about the program.

The camp is open to girls in middle and high school and will run from 1 to 4 p.m. daily June 12 through 23 at ACC.

“This summer’s focus is on gaming,” Cornelius said. “We’ll be doing a lot of gaming, building robots — the culminating project is building a chatbot. They will do a variety of projects. It’s a creative approach to engineering.”

“They are all browser-based,” she said. “They are made so anybody, regardless of experience, can join a club.”

“I’m all about bringing the Arts to STEM to make STEAM,” she said. “I always worked at the intersection of arts and sciences.”

In addition to the technology, the camp will incorporate “sisterhood and teamwork – that’s an important part,” Cornelius said.

NPRC is “providing the laptops so any kid can come and that’s not a constraint,” Cornelius said. “Otherwise, we’d have to ask them to bring their own.”

She is offering Girls Who Code programming at other locations and hopes to bring the program back for a younger age group in the future.

“I think it’s a great program just to get kids involved in something that may benefit them in the future,” ACC Director of Center Services Kim Wilson said. “It’s a springboard to get them involved in an industry that is mostly men. It can take you a lot of different places.”

“The founder started Girls Who Code because there was such a gender gap in girls who were entering computer science,” Cornelius said. “This program found a way to make coding more accessible to girls.

“Giving them this as part of their toolset allows them to stay local and work remotely,” she said.