On a blistering August morning in Chicago, a group of young girls is escaping the heat at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.
Despite it being an early morning on a Monday during summer vacation, the girls appeared to be having a great time at the Museum, which was hosting a Girls in STEM event.
The object of their attention: a dancing robot named Benny.
“Wow!” one girl said. “It’s so cool!”
But what the girls didn’t know was that Benny was actually coded by a group of girls not much older than them as part of a Robotics and Dance summer program.
“Every day they met, they learned about robotics engineering and they actually coded the robot to dance the ‘Cha-Cha Slide,’ which is a Chicago-born dance,” said Brianne Caplan.
Caplan is the founder and CEO of Code Your Dreams, a nonprofit that provides free and stipend-based programs to students of all ages, from kindergarteners in schools, to adults in correctional facilities.
“We think that the best innovators are community members themselves,” Caplan said. “We want anyone walking in their neighborhood to be able to see a problem and then say, ‘I can create a solution for this using technology.’”
Caplan founded the organization in 2018, but she said she knew she had a passion for technology and education when she was in college.
“Benny” the robot was coded by a group of eighth grade girls this summer as part of Code Your Dreams’ Robotics and Dance program.
Photo credit Carolina Garibay
“It was clear from the first day of my intro class that I was already behind, and I was the only woman in my class,” she said. “That got me into thinking: ‘What are the inequities that exist in computer science education?’”
Caplan said Code Your Dreams primarily works with low-income students, students with disabilities and justice-impacted students. She said the goal is to make technology education more accessible and to show students the endless possibilities there are in the field.
“Who we see is who we believe that we can achieve,” she said. “It’s really important to bring technologists everywhere and show that technology doesn’t have to be a software engineer at Facebook. You can do policy within technology. You can be an activist for your community. You can be a digital artist. So there’s just so much potential.”
Brianne Caplan is the founder and CEO of nonprofit Code Your Dreams, which provides free and stipend-based programs to students.
Photo credit Carolina Garibay
For example, 14-year-old Alice, the organization’s Youth Media Director, is combining her passion for helping the Earth with her interest in coding.
“I’m creating an app and it shows about helping the world, recycling, composting, sorting out trash,” she said.
She said while she’s still new to coding, Code Your Dreams has provided a safe, welcoming space for her to learn and develop her skills.
“Code Your Dreams has helped me become more confident, not just with coding, but with school as well and making new connections and friends,” she said.
And that’s what Caplan said is her hope for students.
“Just confidence and knowing that our students can create change that can impact their communities, but can also impact communities all around the world,” she said.