A group of girls in Harrisburg is learning how to code and diving into what it can do for their future careers.

Central PA Girls Who Code is a local branch of the international organization. They have weekly meetings in Hershey and Harrisburg.

Girls in grades 4th through 12th grade can join.

“We’ve worked a lot on motion and stuff that makes it cool,” said Emily Kalbfleisch a ten-year-old, first-year member.

Kalbfleisch excitedly spoke about her current animation project in the program Scratch. It starts with a penguin in the Arctic who is joined by a toucan.

“Maybe the toucan will teach the penguin how to fly,” Kalbfleisch said. “I don’t really know but I’m just going to play around with it. Make it like a story.”

Like the other members, Kalbfleisch is learning computer, math and tech skills above and beyond most kids her age.

“I wanted to something that would keep me busy and I wouldn’t get bored of,” said five-year member Eowyn Stephan. “Now I want to do digital art and website design.”

Not only does the club get the girls thinking about careers in tech, it’s a way to get creative. The girls work on individual projects revolving around things they’re passionate about. Some have even gone on to compete in Hackathons.

“I’m making a little circle bubble that’s basically someone that you can talk to,” first-year member Addy Rosario said. “Its name is Friend.”

Computer science careers have historically been male dominated, so while this club is just fun for these girls now, ultimately the club’s mission is to diversify the workforce and encourage more women to get into these high-paying tech jobs.

“At my school there is code but the kids in my grade made it seem like only guys could be there,” Rosario said. “I thought that that wasn’t fair.”

To learn more, click here.

To sign up for the next round of classes, email hbiccode@gmail.com.