2021 News📰

~as seen in email updates~

✨Last Meeting

Hello Coders and Parents,

We hope you are getting excited for our last class together! We want to remind students to reach out by emailing codeandconnect2021@gmail.com over the next few days with any questions on their website projects. This update covers everything students and parents need to know for our final class.

⏰Looking Ahead

Before Saturday:
  1. Please fill out the NCWIT feedback survey linked below before Saturday so that we will be able to jump right into more exciting activities for our last class :)
    NCWIT Post-Participant Survey

  2. Prepare and practice your final presentation.
    1. Keep the following time limits in mind:
      1. Individual presenters will be given a maximum of 3 minutes.
      2. Group presenters will be given a maximum of 5 minutes.
    2. You may modify a copy of our slide template, create your own presentation slides from scratch, or go without slides (just introduce your team, explain your goal, and demo your website).
    3. Comprehensive Website Project Links List: This document compiles our coders’ website brainstorming work and other helpful resources. In particular, coders will find information about the presentation, including the slides template, is in this document!

On Saturday (4/10):
Our last meeting! We open Zoom around 3:50 pm. We invite family and friends to join us for a (virtual) Final Project Show & Tell on Saturday April 10 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm. We will open Zoom around 12:50 pm. Please join by 1 pm!

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

Tentative Schedule:
  1. Mentor spotlights and shout outs (15 min)

  2. Website presentations and class feedback (audience members leave constructive feedback for presenters on a shared Jam Board) (60 min)
    In first name alphabetical order...
    1. Diseases/COVID-19 (Aasika, Anisha, Isabel)
    2. Plastic in the ocean (Adeline)
    3. Domesticated Ducks in the Wild (Alice)
    4. All About Fears (Ariah)
    5. LGBTQ+ Rights (Aubrey, Jayne, Noi, Sophia)
    6. Animal Rights (Christine)
    7. All you need to know about taking care of a Dog (Giorgia)
    8. Feminism (Hasini, Chiara, Lindsey)
    9. All About TWICE (Helisa)
    10. Bullying (Justice, Zyphera)
    11. Animal Rights (Kamryn)
    12. Gentrification & Urban Sprawl (Kamilah, Annabella)
    13. Global Warming (Lilia)
    14. Feminism (Naomi, Janiyah)
    15. Environment And Earth (Sayali)
    16. K-Pop Journey (Sima)
    17. The Environment (Simran)
    18. Racial Equality (Varsha)

  3. What comes next? (15 min)


Please contact codeandconnect2021@gmail.com with any questions or concerns. We are happy to help coders be ready!

We are incredibly proud of all that our coders have accomplished, and we look forward to seeing their presentations this Saturday! As mentors, we are inspired by your coding spirit and growth; we hope to see you continue learning and growing far beyond just Code & Connect. We believe in you!💕💞

16th Meeting

Hello Coders and Parents,

Welcome back from break! We hope you had a great time and that you are eager to jump back into coding! We start this update with a few announcements, recall last week’s Women’s History Month events, and showcase some of our coders’ Khan Academy projects.

⏰Looking Ahead

Next Meeting: Next Meeting (Tuesday 4/6): Our last Tuesday meeting! We open Zoom around 3:50 pm. Please join by 4 pm! We’ll have a very special live Spotlight—Zosha, an MSU alumnus and prior Spartan GWC club mentor who is now working for Google. Then coders will spend the rest of the class working on their websites.

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

Final Project Show & Tell: We invite family and friends to join us for a (virtual) Final Project Show & Tell on Saturday April 10 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm. We will use the same URL as always (see above).

Comprehensive Website Brainstorm Link List: This document compiles all of the website brainstorming work coders have done. They can click on any of the links to see their previous ideas. They can refer back to these documents to be sure they don’t miss anything.

🌷The Week’s Women’s History Month Events

We were fortunate to be able to participate in three excellent events during the last week of Women’s History Month.

On Monday, we heard from two inspiring young ladies, Khole Thompson and Grace Callwood, two modern-day Difference Makers...

Difference Makers Difference Makers

Khloe Thompson explained how she started the non-profit Khloe Kares when she was 8 years old to help homeless women in her community. She explained how she combined her two passions in life: giving back and sewing. Khloe Kares has delivered over 5,000 “Kare Bags” to those in need. Each home-made bag includes several month’s supply of toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, lotion, feminine hygiene products, socks and underwear. Khloe explained, “When you connect your passion to a purpose you will discover what you are on this earth for.”

Difference Makers Difference Makers

At age 7, Grace Callwell founded the nonprofit We Cancerve Movement, Inc., whose motto is: “Bringing swift solutions to children in sad situations because happiness shouldn't have to wait!” We Cancerve has reached nearly 23,000 children experiencing homeless, illness or in foster care. It has provided more than $20,000 in cash grants and more than $300,000 in in-kind donations to organizations that serve children. Grace offered sage advice gleaned from almost a decade of impactful service.

On Tuesday evening, Microsoft hosted a workshop in which participants were led through a process to devise a plan for becoming a difference maker. Participants documented their plans by filling this powerpoint template.

Difference Makers Difference Makers

The NASA workshop on Wednesday complimented the chat with women from NASA from the week before. The workshop featured a series of virtual tours of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and the manufacturing of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing CST-100 Starliner. Participants learned about some of the training that astronauts undergo and participated in a sample training exercise to increase their reaction times. Check out the fascinating 360° virtual tours.

We want to give a big shout out to Ariah for attending all of last week’s WHM events!

🌷KA Project Spotlights

The following are samples of projects that our coders have created in KA. Click on the link under the image to see the code. Click on the links in the KA rendering of the webpage to test out the links.

One of our wonderful coder's project

See the code for this challenge🌷


One of our wonderful coder's project

See the code for this challenge🌷


One of our wonderful coder's project

See the code for this challenge🌷

C&C Treasure Box: We have a new sticker and fun trinket reward system! 🎉
Fill out this form whenever you reach a goal: https://forms.gle/r8DtVX9WWVnc5HwD9
(Goals include completing Khan Academy units, sharing work, and attending sessions!)

To see the Khan Academy Units that you can earn stickers for:
  1. Log into your Khan Academy account
  2. Then click this url: Khan Academy html-css
(Note: If you are not logged into your account when you paste in the URL, we won’t be able to check that you completed the unit.)

Spring Break (3/27)

Hello Coders and Parents,

Happy Spring Break! We’ll spend a minute looking ahead, then share highlights of our last meeting and of the Women’s History Month events that took place this week.

⏰Looking Ahead

Next Meeting: Tuesday 4/6! As usual for a Tuesday, we open Zoom around 3:50 pm. Please join by 4 pm! We’ll have a very special Spotlight, and then coders will spend the rest of the class working on their websites.

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

We hope coders will have a great break, but also have fun working on their websites. They can ask us questions even during break by emailing codeandconnect2021@gmail.com.

Final Project Show & Tell: We want to give coders an opportunity to showcase their work in our last meeting, and we invite family and friends to join us for a (virtual) Final Project Show & Tell on Saturday April 10 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm. More details to follow after the break.

Comprehensive Website Brainstorm Link List: This document compiles all of the website brainstorming work we have done. Click on any one of the links to see your previous ideas. Refer back to them when coding your actual website to be sure you don’t miss anything.

Drop-In Hour: There will not be a Drop-In Hour on March 29. Our final Drop-In Hour will be from 4-5 pm on Monday April 5.

The Coming Week’s Women’s History Month Events:

Experience Date & Time
“Create a Difference in Your World” - Virtual Fireside Chat with Youth Philanthropists Khloe Thompson & Grace Callwood (Chat Only, 1 hour) March 29, 1:30pm EST
“Changing the Game” Virtual Influencer Panel of Women in Professional Sports (1 hour) March 29, 12:00pm EST
“Create a Difference in Your World,” ages 8+ (Workshop Only, 1 hour) March 30, 6:00pm EST
Women in NASA (Workshop Only, 1 hour) March 31, 10:30am EST

Links to join each experience were sent by email. If you didn't recieve the email, request the specific URL by emailing codeandconnect2021@gmail.com.

⭐Meeting Highlights

Coders continued working on their website projects (on Glitch), adding paragraphs, images, and multiple pages; and styling their pages to catch visitors’ attention. We will be sending feedback to coders over the break, which we hope they will find helpful. We’re excited to see the passion each coder brings to their website!

Kudos to our three coders who met or exceeded the weekly goal of 100 minutes learning on Khan Academy and to the three who were just minutes away:

Khan Academy Minutes


🌷The Past Week’s Women’s History Month Events

The panel of Women in NASA inspired all to believe in their ability to reach lofty goals. The journeys of two of these accomplished women started when their families fled their home countries of Cuba, when Castro came to power, and Kuwait, following the invasion by Iraq. They found homes and opportunity in the United States. Others shared their super powers--a key one being the ability to adapt when reality did not come up to their expectations. Learning to take a deep breath and go on.

Some of the great advice they shared included:

“ Women are socialized to step back and let others take the credit. Don't dim your light so that others can shine. Show your genius! ”

“ You only fail if you don't learn from it. It’s not about perfection—it's about progression. ”

“ When you are passionate about something, just do it. ”

“ Sometimes you have to get your bossy on to get the job done. ”



🌷Microsoft Legacy Project: Thursday afternoon we received a guided tour of Microsoft’s Legacy Project, a virtual interactive gallery about women who are shaping today’s society. We highly recommend you stroll through the museum yourself to learn about the legacy of women who are creating, innovating and leading us to a better place. Click the black arrow to enter the exhibit and stroll up and down the hallways. Click and drag to look around. Click on a photograph to learn more. Click here to learn more.

Microsoft Legacy Project


🌷GWC Spring Forward: The GWC Spring Forward event later Thursday evening was a blast! Attendees were able to engage in activities on the stage and in three different lobbies. The party kicked off with a Fireside chat with Dr.Tarika Barrett of GWC and Carol Juel, EVP & CIO at Synchrony. Then DJs Amira and Kayla kept everyone hopping on the stage with a phenomenal playlist!

GWC Spring Forward DJs Amira and Kayla

In one area of the lobby, Ars Poetica coded poetry for attendees.

GWC Spring Forward Poetry GWC Spring Forward Poetry Ars Poetica

In another, Ophira Edut of the Astro Twins helped attendees decode the planets and their horoscopes!

GWC Spring Forward Astro GWC Spring Forward Astro Ophira Edut

In the third, a panel of activists who are harnessing technology to advance social causes inspired attendees to do the same.

The very full and high-energy program made for a fun and informative evening!

C&C Treasure Box: We have a new sticker and fun trinket reward system! 🎉
Fill out this form whenever you reach a goal: https://forms.gle/r8DtVX9WWVnc5HwD9
(Goals include completing Khan Academy units, sharing work, and attending sessions!)

To see the Khan Academy Units that you can earn stickers for:
  1. Log into your Khan Academy account
  2. Then click this url: Khan Academy html-css
(Note: If you are not logged into your account when you paste in the URL, we won’t be able to check that you completed the unit.)

15th Meeting

Hello Coders and Parents,

Happy Monday! All coders should have joined their Glitch projects by now. Any who has not should email codeandconnect2021@gmail.com so we can help troubleshoot. We are super excited to continue working on the final website projects!

⏰Looking Ahead

Next Meeting: This Tuesday 3/23, we open Zoom around 3:50 pm. Please join by 4 pm! We’ll start with a review of some HTML & CSS features which coders will want to use on their websites. Then we’ll go into breakout rooms where coders can collaborate with one another and ask questions of mentors as they work on their websites.

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

Spring Break: C&C will not meet on:
  1. Sat, Mar. 27
  2. Tues, Mar 30
  3. Sat, Apr 3
C&C will continue again on Tuesday, April 6.

We hope coders will work on their websites during the break; but of course we also hope they will take some time off to enjoy the coming of spring :) Coders can always ask us questions during break by emailing codeandconnect2021@gmail.com.

Final Project Show & Tell: We want to give coders an opportunity to showcase their work in our last meeting, and we invite family and friends to join us for a (virtual) Final Project Show & Tell on Saturday April 10 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm. More details to follow after the break.

Comprehensive Website Brainstorm Link List: This document compiles all of the website brainstorming work we have done. Click on any one of the links to see the your previous ideas. You can refer back to them when coding your actual website on Glitch.

Drop-In Hour: There will not be a Drop-In Hour on March 29. Our Drop-In Hour will resume from 4-5 pm on Mondays on April 5. Please take advantage of this time if you experience technical difficulties, have trouble registering for a Glitch account, miss a class, have questions about anything to do with computing, or just want to chat.

⭐Meeting Highlights

Coders have made a lot of progress on their website projects (on Glitch)! We observed many coders creating their website headers and adding paragraphs and images relating to their topic; some were even adding navigation bars. We’re excited to see each element come together to create a beautiful and informative website!

We haven’t been spending a lot of time in class working on Khan Academy. However, if you haven’t finished the Khan Academy lessons, we encourage you to continue going through the lessons and challenges in the HTML/CSS unit on your own time. It will be very helpful when creating your final website project! You can ask us questions at any time, from email to the drop-in session and classes.

🌷KA Project Spotlights

One of our wonderful coder's project

See the code for this challenge🌷


One of our wonderful coder's project

See the code for this challenge🌷

C&C Treasure Box: We have a new sticker and fun trinket reward system! 🎉
Fill out this form whenever you reach a goal: https://forms.gle/r8DtVX9WWVnc5HwD9
(Goals include completing Khan Academy units, sharing work, and attending sessions!)

To see the Khan Academy Units that you can earn stickers for:
  1. Log into your Khan Academy account
  2. Then click this url: Khan Academy html-css
(Note: If you are not logged into your account when you paste in the URL, we won’t be able to check that you completed the unit.)

14th Meeting

Hello Coders and Parents,

Happy Friday! Tomorrow will be an exciting meeting as we will give you plenty of time to work on your final website project on Glitch. Be ready to bring your creative spirit, coding skills, and an open mind!

⏰Looking Ahead

Next Meeting: This Tuesday 3/16, we open Zoom around 3:50 pm. Please join by 4 pm!

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

Haven’t created a Glitch Account? We urge you to sign up for a Glitch account before tomorrow as we will be using Glitch, an online HTML, CSS, & JavaScript editor, to code our final websites.
  1. Create an account on Glitch following the instructions here.
  2. After creating the account, fill the form here.

Comprehensive Website Brainstorm Link List: This document compiles all of the website brainstorming work we have done. Click on any one of the links to see the your previous ideas. You can refer back to them when coding your actual website on Glitch.

Girls who Code: All coders were sent information to create an account on GWC HQ. There is no requirement to create a GWC HQ account. But doing so will allow you to access GWC resources and receive notices of events and opportunities for improving your technology skills. Let us know if you need a new invitation mail.

Drop-In Hour: Our Drop-In Hour is from 4-5 pm on Mondays (of weeks in which we have a Tuesday session). Please take advantage of this time if you are having technical difficulties, having trouble registering for a Glitch account, missed a class, have questions about anything to do with computing, or just want to chat. (The next drop-in session is on Monday, March 22)

⭐Meeting Highlights

We spent last class getting everyone signed up on Glitch. Now that most of our coders have created an account and have been invited to edit their final website project, we will get started customizing our websites. It is very exciting as we explore how the coding concepts we learned on Khan Academy can be applied to our very own website creations.

Speaking of Khan Academy, we want to highlight some of our coders’ Khan website projects. Thanks to them, we now know a little more about upcoming astronomical events and how to make delicious tiramisu! 🌞⭐

One of our wonderful coder's project

See the code for this challenge🌷


One of our wonderful coder's project

See the code for this challenge🌷

If you haven’t finished the Khan Academy lessons, we encourage you to continue going through the lessons and challenges in the HTML/CSS unit on your own time. It will be very helpful when creating your final website project! You can ask us questions at any time, from email to the drop-in session and classes.

C&C Treasure Box: We have a new sticker and fun trinket reward system! 🎉
Fill out this form whenever you reach a goal: https://forms.gle/r8DtVX9WWVnc5HwD9
(Goals include completing Khan Academy units, sharing work, and attending sessions!)

To see the Khan Academy Units that you can earn stickers for:
  1. Log into your Khan Academy account
  2. Then click this url: Khan Academy html-css
(Note: If you are not logged into your account when you paste in the URL, we won’t be able to check that you completed the unit.)

13th Meeting

Hello Coders and Parents,

Happy Monday! We hope you’re having a great start to your week. We urge you to sign up for a Glitch account before tomorrow as we will be using Glitch to code our final websites. Please look below for instructions on how to sign up for a Glitch Account.

Sign up for a Glitch Account: We will be using Glitch, an online HTML, CSS, & JavaScript editor, to make our final websites.
  1. Create an account on Glitch following the instructions here.
  2. After creating the account, fill the form here.

⏰Looking Ahead

Next Meeting: This Tuesday 3/16, we open Zoom around 3:50 pm. Please join by 4 pm!

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

A Global Celebration of Female Empowerment: Check out this series of events offered by Microsoft during the month of March. Fill out the form here to receive information to join those that interest you at the times indicated. The form is open through March 18.

Missed the Saturday meeting or want to Brainstorm a bit more? Please browse the detailed brainstorming document created last Tuesday. Pay particular attention to the topics you are interested in and use the questions on the slides to add more to your ideas. Email us if you want to be on a different team, if you do not see a topic you are interested in, or if you want to work alone and have not yet told us so ASAP.

Girls who Code: All coders were sent information to create an account on GWC HQ. There is no requirement to create a GWC HQ account. But doing so will allow you to access GWC resources and receive notices of events and opportunities for improving your technology skills. Let us know if you need a new invitation mail.

Drop-In Hour: Our Drop-In Hour is from 4-5 pm on Mondays (of weeks in which we have a Tuesday session). Please take advantage of this time if you are having technical difficulties, missed a class, have questions about anything to do with computing, or just want to chat.

⭐Meeting Highlights

Last class, we played a HTML & CSS Review Kahoot. We hope that the questions helped coders recall most of the HTML & CSS we have learned throughout our sessions. Can you believe that we are already 9 weeks in? Time flies! We are extremely proud of the progress that coders have been making. As they begin creating their actual websites, coders will use the concepts we reviewed during our Kahoot.

Speaking of web programming, we want to highlight another coder's wonderful creation. We would also love to visit Hawaii one day!

One of our wonderful coder's project One of our wonderful coder's project
See the code for this challenge. 🌷

C&C Treasure Box: We have a new sticker and fun trinket reward system! 🎉
Fill out this form whenever you reach a goal: https://forms.gle/r8DtVX9WWVnc5HwD9
(Goals include completing Khan Academy units, sharing work, and attending sessions!)

To see the Khan Academy Units that you can earn stickers for:
  1. Log into your Khan Academy account
  2. Then click this url: Khan Academy html-css
(Note: If you are not logged into your account when you paste in the URL, we won’t be able to check that you completed the unit.)

12th Meeting

Hello Coders and Parents,

Happy Friday! 🎉 Our newsletter starts with information for the coming week, followed by a few highlights from the last meeting.

⏰Looking Ahead

Next Meeting: This Saturday 3/13, we open Zoom around 12:50 pm. Please join by 1 pm!

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

Missed the Tuesday meeting or want to Brainstorm a bit more? Please browse the detailed brainstorming document created on Tuesday. Pay particular attention to the topics you are interested in and use the questions on the slides to add more to your ideas. Email us if you want to be on a different team, if you do not see a topic you are interested in, or if you want to work alone and have not yet told us so ASAP.

A Global Celebration of Female Empowerment: Check out this series of events offered by Microsoft during the month of March. Fill out the form here to receive information to join those that interest you at the times indicated. The form is open through March 18.

Girls who Code: All coders were sent information to create an account on GWC HQ. There is no requirement to create a GWC HQ account. But doing so will allow you to access GWC resources and receive notices of events and opportunities for improving your technology skills. Let us know if you need a new invitation mail.

Drop-In Hour: Our Drop-In Hour is from 4-5 pm on Mondays (of weeks in which we have a Tuesday session). Please take advantage of this time if you are having technical difficulties, missed a class, have questions about anything to do with computing, or just want to chat.

⭐Meeting Highlights

Tuesday’s spotlight highlighted a host of influential women engineers dating back to the early 1900’s. Not all are well known, but all developed technology that has changed our lives. We recommend you take a minute to check it out:

Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day
Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day 2019

Tuesday’s class flew by in the wink of an eye! We couldn’t be more proud of the progress coders are making. Four of our coders are already exceeding the 100-minutes goal we set for weekly-minutes-of-learning on Khan Academy. Others were just a stone’s throw away.

We encourage coders to “spin-off” any KA challenge or project that they want us to see so we can highlight something new and fun in each of these letters. The one below reveals a coder who would like to entice us all to visit Japan. Someone who clearly loves shopping and good sushi! 🍣😄

One of our wonderful coder's project One of our wonderful coder's project
See the code for this challenge. 🌷

C&C Treasure Box: We have a new sticker and fun trinket reward system! 🎉
Fill out this form whenever you reach a goal: https://forms.gle/r8DtVX9WWVnc5HwD9
(Goals include completing Khan Academy units, sharing work, and attending sessions!)

To see the Khan Academy Units that you can earn stickers for:
  1. Log into your Khan Academy account
  2. Then click this url: Khan Academy html-css
(Note: If you are not logged into your account when you paste in the URL, we won’t be able to check that you completed the unit.)

11th Meeting

Hello Coders and Parents,

We start our newsletter with information for the coming week, followed by a few highlights from the last meeting.

⏰Looking Ahead

Next Meeting: This Tuesday 3/9, we open Zoom around 3:50 pm. Please join by 4 pm!

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

Missed the Saturday meeting? Please take a moment to rank your top 3 choices for your website topic in the form here before joining class today. (It will take 2-3 mins.)

Girls who Code: On Sunday, all coders should have received an invitation to create an account on Girls Who Code’s HQ site. If you accept this invitation, you will be able to directly access all resources on the HQ site and you will receive notification of events and opportunities from GWC. There is no requirement to create an account on GWC HQ. But if you want to join and did not receive the invitation, let us know; we will regenerate it.

Technical difficulties or not receiving our email notices? Have you tried the suggestions below, come to a Drop-In Hour, or sent an email about the issues? If not, please do!

Drop-In Hour: Our Drop-In Hour is from 4-5 pm on Mondays (of weeks in which we have a Tuesday session). Please take advantage of this time if you are having technical difficulties, missed a class, have questions about anything to do with computing, or just want to chat.

⭐Meeting Highlights

Last Saturday we had fun getting to know each other through Bingo. We love that many of you like to listen to music (especially K Pop), read, and draw!

The Bingo board for Saturday's game

Following Bingo, coders ranked their interest in the general topics identified the week before during our website-topic brainstorming activity. If you missed Saturday, please try to fill your rankings into the form here before you join class today.

The rest of the class was spent learning more CSS tricks on Kahn Academy. Press the link under the screen shot below to see an example of how one of our coders used CSS to style a very cool (and colorful) tomato! 😺

One of our wonderful coder's project
See the code for this challenge. 🌷

C&C Treasure Box: We have a new sticker and fun trinket reward system! 🎉
Fill out this form whenever you reach a goal: https://forms.gle/r8DtVX9WWVnc5HwD9
(Goals include completing Khan Academy units, sharing work, and attending sessions!)

To see the Khan Academy Units that you can earn stickers for:
  1. Log into your Khan Academy account
  2. Then click this url: Khan Academy html-css
(Note: If you are not logged into your account when you paste in the URL, we won’t be able to check that you completed the unit.)

10th Meeting

Hello Coders and Parents,

We are rearranging the order of our newsletters a bit. We’ll start by looking ahead, and then provide highlights of our last session. We are excited to include some samples of what coders are producing in this letter!

⏰Looking Ahead

Next Meeting: This Saturday 3/6, we will open Zoom around 12:50 pm. Please join by 1 pm! (Latecomers may have to wait in the waiting room until a mentor becomes free to let them in and may miss instructions needed to join in the current activity.)

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

Drop-In Hour: Our Drop-In Hour is from 4-5 pm on Mondays (of weeks in which we have a Tuesday session). Please take advantage of this time if you are having technical difficulties, missed a class, have questions about anything to do with computing, or just want to chat.

Girls who Code: We are excited to announce that Code and Connect has been accepted as an official Girls Who Code (GWC) club! This will allow coders to access resources on the GWC website in addition to those we provide. We are already using some of the GWC web-design curriculum. We will be adding coders to our GWC account this weekend, at which time they should receive an email for GWC Head-Quarters.

Technical difficulties or not receiving our email notices? Have you tried the suggestions below, come to a Drop-In Hour, or sent an email about the issues? If not, please do!

☀Highlights

We started off our Tuesday session with a Spotlight on Kim Swennen, an actor turned Software Engineer who learned to code as an adult and was later hired at Youtube. She is the coder behind the Youtube subscribe button! Her story demonstrates that it is never too late to try something new. She recommends stepping out of your comfort zone and not being afraid to take risks. You can find the video we viewed in class at https://www.ifthencollection.org/search by searching for ‘Kim Swennen’.

Our coders are learning and coding lots of HTML & CSS. We are so proud of their progress! We’d like to showcase some of the awesome projects they’ve completed so far. It’s always inspiring to see the creativity(and color) that our coders express through their beautiful projects!


One of our wonderful coder's project One of our wonderful coder's project
Find more on this project🌷


One of our wonderful coder's project One of our wonderful coder's project
Find more on this project🌷


One of our wonderful coder's project One of our wonderful coder's project
Find more on this project🌷


At the end of each meeting, we do a quick “Stand Up” in which coders share their reflections on the previous 80 minutes. Imagine our delight during the Tuesday standup when—in responding to the question, What is the best part about coding? —one coder typed “the literal problem solving part to it" and another typed “you can be creative and everything you create is unique!" We couldn’t agree more!

C&C Treasure Box: We have a new sticker and fun trinket reward system! 🎉
Fill out this form whenever you reach a goal: https://forms.gle/r8DtVX9WWVnc5HwD9
(Goals include completing Khan Academy units, sharing work, and attending sessions!)

To see the Khan Academy Units that you can earn stickers for:
  1. Log into your Khan Academy account
  2. Then click this url: Khan Academy html-css
(Note: If you are not logged into your account when you paste in the URL, we won’t be able to check that you completed the unit.)

9th Meeting

Hello everyone!

This week during Code and Connect we started off by encouraging our coders to describe their week in memes. We received some entertaining responses...


Programmers while coding meme Awesome gif Sloth chill meme Quarantine meme

A lot of us agree with that last meme and are tired of virtual work and classes. Luckily, we got to refocus that energy into imagining the world we’d like to live in through a website topic brainstorming session! Here are some of the things our coders would like to see in an ideal world:

“The world I'd want to live in is a world where everyone is equal and no one is discriminated against, a world where everyone truly has the same opportunities and rights, and a world everyone has equal healthcare.”

“I want people to take care of where they live and respect the earth.”

“I want to live in a world where people don't judge someone for the color of their skin, or the person they love, or how they look, or many other things.”



Coders who missed Saturday’s class should visit our jamboard at the link below. We ask them to review the ideas that others came up with and add their own. Parents may also be interested in seeing the future that our coders envision.

Jamboard Website Topic Ideas C&C Coders came up with! Jamboard Website Topic Ideas C&C Coders came up with!

Review or Add to our Jamboard

We’ll be keeping these ideas in mind as we begin planning our websites and group coders with similar interests to work together.

Most coders continue to work their way through the HTML and CSS lessons. They are creating some very imaginative KA ‘projects’. We’ll be highlighting some fun ones in future newsletters with coders’ permission.

C&C Treasure Box: We have a new sticker and fun trinket reward system! 🎉
Fill out this form whenever you reach a goal: https://forms.gle/r8DtVX9WWVnc5HwD9
(Goals include completing Khan Academy units, sharing work, and attending sessions!)

To see the Khan Academy Units that you can earn stickers for:
  1. Log into your Khan Academy account
  2. Then click this url: Khan Academy html-css
(Note: If you are not logged into your account when you paste in the URL, we won’t be able to check that you completed the unit.)

⏰Looking Ahead

Next Meeting: This Tuesday 3/2, we will open Zoom around 3:50 pm. Please join by 4 pm! (Latecomers may have to wait in the waiting room until a mentor becomes free to let them in and may miss instructions needed to join in the current activity.)

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

Drop-In Hour: Our Drop-In Hour is from 4-5 pm on Mondays (of weeks in which we have a Tuesday session). Please take advantage of this time if you are having technical difficulties, missed a class, have questions about anything to do with computing, or just want to chat.

Technical difficulties or not receiving our email notices? Have you tried the suggestions below, come to a Drop-In Hour, or sent an email about the issues? If not, please do!

8th Meeting

Hi Coders and Parents!

We hope all coders enjoyed the spotlight featuring women who are helping drive innovation at Disney. Their discussion of the role of creativity in “imagineering” Disney movies was right on! (“Imagineering” is Disney’s word for engineering Disney movies and experiences.) We love how coders recognized the importance of diversity in “imagineering teams,” since diverse perspectives spark true innovation. Additionally, as one of our coders mentioned, for Disney movies to appeal to the broadest audience possible, it’s imagineers need to truly understand the interests of the population. The caption on the image below links to the video. Parents or any coders who missed Tuesday’s session might enjoy watching it.

Charita--a Disney Imagineer

Charita discusses what it's like to be a Disney "Imagineer"

Most of you are deep into the CSS lessons on Khan Academy, and we’re super excited to see you grow your coding superpowers. Having CSS in your toolbox will help you create unique and beautiful websites in the future.

🚀New Updates

Final Website Project: We received a couple of questions regarding selecting topics for our final website project. There is no limit to what topic you can choose (use your creativity!), although it would be great if you could connect it to a global issue.

  1. Example: A topic I am interested in is baking. Some issue(s) that I could put on my webpage include: (1) since some don't have the resources to buy an expensive cookbook, I will recommend recipes I love through my website. (2) Many American children suffer from diabetes. I will provide recipes for healthy baked goods, healthy substitutes for common ingredients, and fun activities to get more exercise.
  2. Example: I love dogs but am concerned that many people don’t take good care of them. My website might include information about my favorite dogs—what I like about them, why they make good pets, and pictures of them—but also provide information about keeping them healthy—the shots they need and when, how much exercise and attention they need, how much and often they should be fed, and so on.

Tomorrow, we will be holding a group brainstorm session to answer more questions and provide a time where coders can bounce around ideas with one another. Later, we will match coders with similar interests to work together on designing a website. If coders know who they would like to work with, they should let a mentor know ahead of time.

C&C Treasure Box: We have a new sticker and fun trinket reward system! 🎉
Fill out this form whenever you reach a goal: https://forms.gle/r8DtVX9WWVnc5HwD9 (Goals include completing Khan Academy units, sharing work, and attending sessions!)

⏰Looking Ahead

Next Meeting: This Saturday 2/27, we will open Zoom around 12:50 pm. Please join by 1 pm! (Latecomers may have to wait in the waiting room until a mentor becomes free to let them in and may miss instructions needed to join in the current activity.)

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

Drop-In Hour: Our Drop-In Hour is from 4-5 pm on Mondays (of weeks in which we have a Tuesday session). Please take advantage of this time if you are having technical difficulties, missed a class, have questions about anything to do with computing, or just want to chat.

Technical difficulties or not receiving our email notices? Have you tried the suggestions below, come to a Drop-In Hour, or sent an email about the issues? If not, please do!

Michigan State University's
Introduce a Girl to Engineering —
Home Edition

Date: Saturday, March 13
Who: 4th − 8th graders
What: Hands-On Engineering Activities
Where: Virtual Event using Zoom
Time: 1:30-3:30pm (check-in 1:00-1:30pm)
Cost: FREE



Logo for MSU's Introduce a Girl to Engineering event

Registration is required and participants must be chaperoned. Parents/chaperones may register up to 3 children with all children participating in the same activities.

4th − 8th graders will rotate through 3 hands-on activities using materials found in their homes.

Activities are prearranged in tracks. Upon registration at the link below, you will choose your top 3 track choices. A week before the event, we will notify you which track we are able to offer you.

Registration deadline is March 1 or until maximum capacity is reached.

Register

Questions? Contact MSU Women in Engineering Recruitment,Civic Engagement, and K-12 Outreach Office at wie-outreach@egr.msu.edu.

In achieving its goals, the Women in Engineering program does not unlawfully discriminate. All events and programs are open to students of all genders.

7th Meeting

Hi Coders!

What a great Show-And-Tell! We loved seeing something special in your life and sharing with you something in ours. During quarantine, such moments have become all too rare. Thankfully, it looks like better days are just around the corner! 😍

We hope you are becoming more comfortable with both HTML and CSS as you continue on in Khan Academy. We recommend viewing the videos multiple times since something you learn later can often help you make sense of something you didn’t understand before.

Please remember that when you do complete a challenge, press “Finish Challenge” for future rewards/cute stickers!

Snapshot showing the Finish Challenge button on Khan Academy

A look forward: We will begin planning and coding our own advocacy websites very soon! Start thinking of issues that you would like to bring awareness to or solve. We are excited to see your ideas come to life.🧠

Next meeting: This Tuesday 2/23, we will be starting in Zoom again. We will open Zoom around 3:50 pm. Please join by 4 pm! (Latecomers may have to wait in the waiting room until a mentor becomes free to let them in and may miss instructions needed to join in the current activity.)

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

Drop-In Hour: Our Drop-In Hour is from 4-5 pm on Mondays (of weeks in which we have a Tuesday session). Please take advantage of this time if you are having technical difficulties, missed a class, have questions about anything to do with computing, or just want to chat.

Technical difficulties or not receiving our email notices? Have you tried the suggestions below, come to a Drop-In Hour, or sent an email about the issues? If not, please do!

6th Meeting

Hi everyone!

We hope you enjoyed our short break, but we are excited to get back to coding tomorrow! Currently, we’ve been learning how to structure websites with HTML and are beginning to style websites with CSS. We also learned about the importance of accessibility in code through last week’s spotlight featuring Jordyn Castor. An MSU alumnae and current software engineer at Apple, Jordyn has been blind since birth and works to make technology more accessible! Inspired by Jordyn, students reflected on causes they hope to advocate for using technology as well as the actions they can take to make the world around them more inclusive.

Jordyn Castor

Tomorrow, we will be having a fun show-and-tell at the beginning of our meeting. Some examples you could bring to the class and share: your favorite food, a baby picture, favorite book/song/artist, or anything unique that makes you you! Please have your item ready before our meeting starts.


Next meeting: This Saturday, 2/20, we will be starting in Zoom again. We will open Zoom around 12:50 pm. Please join by 1 pm! (Latecomers may have to wait in the waiting room until a mentor becomes free to let them in and may miss instructions needed to join in the current activity.)

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

Drop-In Hour: We are moving the time of our Drop-In Hour to 4-5 pm on Mondays (of weeks in which we have a Tuesday session). Please take advantage of this time if you are having technical difficulties, missed a class, have questions about anything to do with computing, or just want to chat.

Technical difficulties or not receiving our email notices? Have you tried the suggestions below, come to a Drop-In Hour, or sent an email about the issues? If not, please do!

5th Meeting

Hello Coders!

Continuing coding with everyone on Tuesday was a blast, as was playing Kahoot! We hope everyone is enjoying their coding experiences and is having lots of fun. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to reach out to codeandconnect2021@gmail.com

Next meeting: This Saturday, 2/13, we will be starting in Zoom again. We will open Zoom around 12:50 pm. Please join by 1 pm! (Latecomers may have to wait in the waiting room until a mentor becomes free to let them in and may miss instructions needed to join in the current activity.)

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

We have an exciting spotlight planned for the beginning of the session and lots of fun coding afterward! We’re super excited for tomorrow and hope you all are as well.

Drop-In Hour: We are moving the time of our Drop-In Hour to 4-5 pm on Mondays (of weeks in which we have a Tuesday session). Please take advantage of this time if you are having technical difficulties, missed a class, have questions about anything to do with computing, or just want to chat.

Having technical difficulties? They could be due to issues with your device, browser or broadband. We recommend the following for the best experience.
  1. Use a laptop or PC, if one is available
  2. Use the Google Chrome browser and close all tabs not in use for the meeting. After joining Zoom from Gather, close out the Gather tab.
  3. Check that you have the latest versions of Chrome and Zoom.
  4. Exit all applications except Google Chrome and Zoom.
  5. Ask others in your household to not perform data intensive activities (e.g., stream video) while you are in a C&C session.
  6. Work close to the router.
  7. Refresh the tab having issues (e.g., if others are not hearing you in Gather).
  8. Exit and rejoin the Zoom session.

Having trouble finding our program email updates?
  1. Add codeandconnect2021@gmail.com as a contact or move our emails to the “Primary” section of your inbox so our emails don’t get lost in spam!
  2. If you are still unable to find our email communications, please check the News page on our website.
  3. Subscribe to our Remind notification service to get instant updates about the Spring 2021 session (including meeting links & passwords). Text @codecon to 81010 or visit rmd.at/codecon to subscribe.

4th Meeting

GOOD Day!

What a talented group of coders! Can you pick out your talents among the many possessed by this semester’s C&C members?
Word cloud of talents of members of C&C 2021
Next meeting: This Tuesday, 2/9, we will be starting in Zoom again. We will open Zoom around 3:50pm. Please join by 4 pm! (Latecomers may have to wait in the waiting room until a mentor becomes free to let them in and may miss instructions needed to join in the current activity.)

Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

We’ll start the meeting with a Kahoot! It will cover the main HTML tags introduced so far. You won’t want to miss it!

Have questions on the material or just want to chat? Several of us will be available again this Monday from 3 to 4 pm on Zoom. Same link as above. We can help you catch up to anything you missed or trouble-shoot your technical problems.

Having technical difficulties? They could be due to issues with your device, browser or broadband. We recommend the following for the best experience.
  1. Use a laptop or PC, if one is available
  2. Use the Google Chrome browser and close all tabs not in use for the meeting. After joining Zoom from Gather, close out the Gather tab.
  3. Check that you have the latest versions of Chrome and Zoom.
  4. Exit all applications except Google Chrome and Zoom.
  5. Ask others in your household to not perform data intensive activities (e.g., stream video) while you are in a C&C session.
  6. Work close to the router.
  7. Refresh the tab having issues (e.g., if others are not hearing you in Gather).
  8. Exit and rejoin the Zoom session.

Having trouble finding our program email updates?
  1. Add codeandconnect2021@gmail.com as a contact or move our emails to the “Primary” section of your inbox so our emails don’t get lost in spam!
  2. Subscribe to our Remind notification service to get instant updates about the Spring 2021 session (including meeting links & passwords). Text @codecon to 81010 or visit rmd.at/codecon to subscribe.

3rd Meeting

HELLO Coders and Friends!

We had so much fun meeting with everyone on Tuesday, from learning about each other’s preferences in our icebreaker to beginning our coding session! It was super inspiring to watch everyone engage with their group and start coding. Responses to our weekly feedback survey were quite positive, but don't hesitate to reach out to codeandconnect2021@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns!

Next meeting: This Saturday, 2/6, we will NOT be starting on Gather! Instead, our Zoom will be open starting from 12:50pm. Please join the Zoom meeting by 1 pm. Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/95837716522 (no password, waiting room enabled).

We hope you enjoyed the start of our curriculum and look forward to learning more HTML this Saturday!

Having trouble finding our program email updates?
  1. Please add "codeandconnect2021@gmail.com" as a contact or move our emails to the “Primary” section of your inbox so our emails don’t get lost in spam!
  2. If you are still unable to find our email communications, please check the News page on our website.
  3. Subscribe to our Remind notification service to get instant updates about the Spring 2021 session (including meeting links & passwords). Text @codecon to 81010 or visit rmd.at/codecon to subscribe.


Having technical difficulties? It could be due to issues with your device, browser or broadband. We recommend the following for the best experience.
  1. Use a laptop or PC, if one is available.
  2. Use the Google Chrome browser and close all tabs not in use for the meeting.
  3. Exit all applications except Google Chrome and Zoom.
  4. Ask others in your household to avoid performing data intensive activities (i.e., streaming video) while you are in a C&C session.
  5. Work close to the router.
  6. Refresh the tab having issues (e.g., if others are not hearing you in Gather).
  7. Exit and rejoin the Zoom session.

2nd Meeting

WELCOME BACK TO Code and Connect!

We had a lot of fun getting to know those coders who were able to join us on Saturday. The enthusiasm of coders to explore Gather was infectious! It takes a bit of getting used to, but they’ll be Gather experts before they know it! The same goes, of course, for Zoom. We’ll review and practice until all are comfortable. We hope coders had as much fun as we did and are looking forward to more on Tuesday!

Technical difficulties?
Unfortunately, some coders experienced technical problems. To help them troubleshoot, we need information about the nature of the problems they experienced and their computing setup.

Several of us therefore plan to make ourselves available tomorrow (Monday Feb 1) from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm. If your coder had technical difficulties or if they just want some help/practice using Gather and Zoom, have them join us on either platform between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm:

Zoom link:
Backup Zoom
Password: None. (A wait room).

C&C Gather
Password: Sent to you via email (the same password as on Saturday).

If your coder had technical difficulties, but cannot join us on Monday, please send an email with answers to the following questions:
    What kind of problems did they have with Gather (e.g., joining the room, seeing/hearing others, being seen/heard, interacting with objects, etc.)?

    What kind of problems did they have with Zoom (e.g., joining, staying connected, finding/reading chat, hearing/seeing others, etc.)?

    What kind of device were they using?

    What browser were they using?

Next meeting:
This Tuesday, we’ll start again in Gather. Mentors will join the Gather room by 3:50 pm and hang out in the lobby until 4:00 pm, when we’ll start the planned activities. Please help your coder join Gather by 4:00 pm. Although we will try our best, it is very hard to ‘catch someone up’ to instruction that they’ve missed in a remote setting. We’ll also start the Zoom session by 3:50 pm. If your child cannot get into Gather, have them join the Zoom session instead. We’ll do the best we can to help them.

1st Meeting

WELCOME TO Code and Connect!

We're thrilled to see you all this Saturday, January 30th at 1 pm, for our first C&C meeting of the spring! To make sure we're all on the same (virtual) page, we've got a number of updates to share with you.
  1. Meeting Link & Password
    To maintain privacy and security, we will be sending out new links and passwords every week for the following C&C meetings. Subscribe to our Remind service (see below) for the meeting information each week and/or check your email! Linked here is a Google Calendar you can add to your personal calendar with meeting links and times.

    For this Saturday’s meeting, join us on Gather on Saturday at the following link.
    C&C Gather
    Please check your email for our Gather room password. The room will be open starting at 12:50 pm. Please try to join by 1:00 pm.

    Gather is like a ‘Sim Meeting Space’. An avatar shows where you are. You move your avatar by pressing the arrow keys. When your avatar is near another person's avatar, your and their video and audio will connect and you'll be able to chat with them. When your avatars move apart, your video and audio will disconnect. This makes it easy for groups of people to hold separate conversations at the same time without the hassle of breakout rooms. It’s like in-person interactions! No sign-up is required.

    We'll explore Gather together at our first meeting, so don't stress about it! One of the first things we’ll show you is how to find a mentor so you can always easily get help when you need it.

    Technical Support
    We'll be running a "backup" Zoom waiting room for technical support (i.e., in case you cannot find the email we send with the password). If you're not able to log into Gather or if you encounter any other technical difficulties, you can join our "backup" Zoom with the following link; a mentor will join you there within a few minutes to help troubleshoot.
    Backup Zoom


  2. Remind
    Subscribe to our Remind service to receive instant updates about the Spring 2021 session (including meeting links & passwords). Text @codecon to 81010 or visit rmd.at/codecon to subscribe. We'll continue to send updates via email, but we know how flakey mail delivery can be!
    How to subscribe to Remind


  3. Attendance
    We hope that you will attend at least 14 of our 17 meetings between 1/31 and 4/10. The more meetings you attend, the more fun you'll have and the more you’ll learn! We had to turn 30+ participants away to keep our participant-to-mentor ratio from growing too large. So remember that your spot is valuable!


  4. Participant Handbook
    MSU Youth Program Policy requires us to distribute a document detailing proper conduct of MSU mentors, faculty, staff, and participants. We encourage you to read and discuss our 2021 C&C Participant Handbook with your child to help ensure our program is a success.


  5. What to Expect
    We'll be working through Khan Academy's"Intro to HTML and CSS: Making webpages" course and “HTML/JS: Making pages interactive.” Members will learn the basics of computer science by creating interactive websites. We’ll also be using Glitch when we start building our personal website projects.

    Meetings typically begin with a 15-minute icebreaker or a spotlight in which we showcase a different way computer science is used in the real world. We'll then introduce some programming concepts and break into small groups to work through coding exercises for about 60 minutes (with a 10 minute break). In the final 15 minutes, we'll reconvene for some reflection and feedback.


  6. Schedule
    Meetings will be Saturdays 1-2:30pm and Tuesdays 4-5:30pm beginning January 31st, 2021 and ending April 10th, 2021 (excluding 2/16, 3/27, 3/30, 4/2). Linked here is a Google Calendar you can add to your personal calendar with meeting links and times. If your student is no longer planning to participate in C&C, please send an email and we will remove you from our mailing list.


  7. Privacy
    To protect our members’ privacy, we ask that they use only their first name and the first initial of their last name as their screen name in all applications that we use. This Saturday, we will show them how to change their screen name in Zoom for this purpose. We will also create Khan Academy and Glitch accounts for them that follow this convention. When birthdates are required, we will use 01/01 for the month and day, and the birth year supplied on the interest form.


  8. Emails
    Please add codeandconnect2021@gmail.com as a contact or move our emails to the “Primary” section of your inbox so our emails don’t get lost in spam! If you ever feel that you did not receive an email, please let us know. You can also find all updates on our website's news page.
If you have any questions or encounter technical difficulties, you can reach us at codeandconnect2021@gmail.com. We'll try to respond promptly!
That's all for now—we'll see you soon! In the meantime, stay healthy and safe. Brighter days are ahead!
The Code & Connect Team

Submit your Parental Consent Forms

Hi everyone,

Thank you for registering your interest in Code & Connect 2021. We’re excited to welcome you and your child to the program!

In order to participate in Code & Connect, you must submit two consent forms as soon as possible! (Ideally, by Monday, January 25). Click the button below to access the Google Form to both download and upload the necessary two forms.
C&C Consent Forms
  • In order to upload your child's signed consent forms, you will need to fill the Google Form while logged into a Google account. If you do not have a Google account, you may instead print the forms, sign them, and email your signed forms to codeandconnect2021@gmail.com.

  • MSU Youth Program Policy and NCWIT AspireIT requires that we have written parental consent for each participant’s involvement in C&C. More detailed instructions are provided in the Google Form, which should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.

Sessions will be on Tuesdays from 4-5:30pm and Saturdays 1-2:30pm via Zoom with the exception of public school breaks.

We’ll be sending a welcome message sometime during the week of January 25th with more detail around what to expect for our first session on Saturday, January 30th from 1-2:30pm ET. So keep an eye on your inbox!

If your child is no longer planning to participate in Code & Connect, please send us an email at codeandconnect2021@gmail.com ASAP. We’ll be sad to see them go, but understand that things come up. Early notification will allow us to admit some other students from the long waiting list of those who we had to decline for lack of resources.

See you soon,
The Code & Connect Team
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