Building Confidence One Line at a Time

Every month, something magical happens online. Students aged 12-16 log in from wherever they're most comfortable, and by the end of the evening, they've built something they never thought they could.

Welcome to Girls in Coding Night.

Why We Started This

We noticed something that many others have seen too: while students start out just as interested in technology as anyone else, somewhere along the way, many lose confidence or think coding "isn't for them."

But here's what makes our approach different - we don't just teach coding concepts. We show participants our actual working product that they use every day, then give them hands-on experience building similar features. When they see the real code behind something they actually interact with, everything clicks.

What Actually Happens

Our Girls in Coding Night isn't complicated. Every third Friday of the month, students from anywhere can join us online to get hands-on experience with real code that powers real products.

Here's what a typical evening looks like:

6:00 PM - Virtual Hangout and Product Demo
We start in our main video call with quick introductions, then show our actual working product. Students get to see the features they use, then we peek behind the curtain to show the code that makes it work.

6:30 PM - Hands-On Building
Now comes the fun part - students build their own version of what they just saw. Recent sessions have included:

• Creating the same user interface elements they see in our app

• Building mini-versions of features they actually use

• Writing the logic behind tools they interact with daily

• Designing their own improvements to existing features

8:00 PM - Show and Tell
Everyone gets to share their screen and demo what they built. The pride on their faces when they show off their working code? That's why we do this.

8:30 PM - Wrap Up
We chat about what we'll tackle next month and share resources for practicing between sessions.

What We've Learned

After hosting these for a while, we've noticed some patterns:

Real code beats tutorials. When students see the actual code behind features they use, it suddenly becomes concrete instead of abstract.

"I built that!" moments are powerful. There's something special about building a working version of something they actually interact with in our product.

Behind-the-scenes curiosity is natural. Once students see how one feature works, they start asking about everything else - "How does the login work?" "What makes this button do that?"

The Ripple Effect

We're starting to see our Girls in Coding Night participants:

• Actually understand how the products they use every day are built

• Ask deeper questions about the technology around them

• Talk about careers in technology they never considered before

• Most importantly, see themselves as people who can create the tools they use, not just consume them

It's Just a Really Cool Night

Honestly, we host Girls in Coding Night because it's fun. There's something awesome about watching someone build their first working feature, or seeing the lightbulb moment when they realize how something they use every day actually works.

Some participants will go on to become developers. Others might use what they learned in completely different ways. Some might just have a cool story about that time they built part of an app.

All of those outcomes are wins.

Want to Start Your Own?

If you're thinking about starting something similar, here's what we'd suggest:

1. Start with your actual product. Show students something real that they can relate to or actually use.

2. Make it hands-on immediately. Don't just explain - let them build a working version themselves.

3. Connect the dots. Help students see how the code they're writing connects to the features they see.

4. Focus on building, not syntax. Students want to create working things, not memorize programming languages.

5. Celebrate working code. Every small feature that actually works deserves recognition and screen time.

6. Answer the "how does this work?" questions. Students' natural curiosity about your product is your best teaching tool.

The Simple Truth

Girls in Coding Night works because it's not trying to solve big problems or make grand statements. It's just a monthly virtual hangout where students get to peek behind the curtain of technology they actually use and try building it themselves.

We're not changing the world. We're just having a good time showing students what they can create.

And honestly? That's pretty cool.