FACES of Fresno Unified Fall Edition Issue 8 | Page 26

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Julissa Lopez is only in the fourth grade , but she already knows basic coding and robotics programming .

She learned these skills in the CoderGirlz club at Easterby Elementary School , which meets once a week after school . Led by kindergarten teacher Debra Stearns , the students learn coding , robotics , 3D printing and design and game-based learning with Minecraft .
Club members also participate in Fresno Unified ’ s annual STEAM Fair , where students present projects focused on a theme . STEAM stands for science , technology , engineering , arts and math .
The theme for the STEAM Fair last year was “ Give Your Brain a Break .” Julissa ’ s project with another student was to build a virtual cat café using Minecraft .
Julissa joined CoderGirlz in third grade , recruited by Stearns . She did not know what coding was until she joined the club .
“ It ’ s so fun . It ’ s interesting and you get to learn things ,” Julissa said .
She also enjoys hanging out with the other girls in the club .
Stearns began coaching CoderGirlz in 2022 , wanting to expose girls to coding at a young age , an opportunity that she did not have .
“ I know that tech jobs are the fastest growing career opportunity and that girls are still underrepresented in the field ,” Stearns said . “ Girls need to know that they can do anything that they want to do .”
Julissa recognizes that what she is learning in CoderGirlz could prepare her for a career pathway with lots of opportunities for women , but at this point she is thinking about being a teacher like her brother or a doctor like her sister . In school , Julissa ’ s favorite subject is math .
“ I love fractions , multiplication and division ,” she said .
She also enjoys being on the cross country team .