Hackergal Introduces Girls to Coding with Swift at Spring Break Camps

TORONTO, March 15, 2018 /CNW/ - Hackergal, a non-profit organization that introduces middle school girls to the unlimited possibilities of coding through girl-only hackathons and coding programs, today announced Staples Canada will be the title sponsor of its 2018 Spring Break Coding Camp. The camp will exclusively teach Swift, the robust and intuitive programming language created by Apple.

Programs offered through the Hackergal Network are targeted at middle school-aged girls and offered at a low cost so that every girl ? no matter her socio-economic situation ? has the opportunity to participate. Hackergal's 2018 Spring Break Coding Camp will be held March 12-16, 2018 at Ryerson University in Toronto.

"We are thrilled to introduce girls to Swift, the powerful programming language created by Apple, during our 2018 Spring Break camp. Using Swift Playgrounds on iPad, girls will be able to write real code, the same code that developers use to develop apps," said Lucy Ho, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Education, Hackergal. "March marks Hackergal Network's second camp program."

In Canada, while the gender gap continues to pose a great concern for the business and technology industry, an even bigger concern is the gap in the number of young girls taking computer science courses in their high-school and post-secondary years. Earlier this year, a national coding survey commissioned by Actua discovered more than 50 percent of boys said they were extremely interested in careers involving coding or programming whereas only 27 percent of girls expressed similar interest.

"Coding is the new literacy," said Matoula Mitropoulos, Managing Director of Partnerships for Hackergal. "The fact is all the great jobs in the future, no matter the field, will require some understanding of code. If we want women to be a part of the fastest growing job markets we need to introduce girls to code earlier in the education process."

"We are excited to be a part of the Hackergal movement," said Alessandra Saccal, Communications and Sponsorship Programs, Staples Canada. "Hackergal's mission to expose more middle school girls to coding so that they consider a career in a computer science related field, aligns with our own values to support education initiatives in our community. We hope that through our combined efforts we can help narrow the gender gap and change the perception that coding is just for men."

For information about Hackergal's 2018 Spring Break Camp, visit: https://www.picatic.com/event15169051854387

About Hackergal
Hackergal was founded in 2015 with the mission to introduce middle-school girls to code and computer science through its Hackathon program. The not-for-profit's goal is to create a movement of girls coding ?  ultimately closing the gender gap in technology and computer science ? by sparking an interest at an early age. Hackergal is presently regionally-focused but seeder schools have been recruited to help our national roll-out in 2018.

SOURCE Hackergal