Girls Who Code had its first meeting Sept 18, and will meet twice a month to bring girls together to form friendships and learn about women in computer science.

“I feel like girls are underrepresented in the technology field as far as careers, and I liked how this focused on building friendship and at the same time learning computer science in a fun way,” business teacher and club sponsor Karyn Kolly said.

Only about 15 percent of technology-oriented jobs are held by women. Girls Who Code is working to close the gap between genders in the technology field and change the image of what a programmer looks like.

“This upcoming year, we’re hoping to visit some companies in our area that have to do with technology and bring in some speakers,” Kolly said.

A typical meeting usually includes a video of a woman in the technology field, an icebreaker, and spending time on the website learning computer skills.

“There’s a website we log into to get all kinds of different computer science training, learning different languages–html and maybe Python,” Kolly said.

Getting involved in the club is easy, girls can just come to a meeting and join in. No prior experience is required.

“Girls Who Code is a nonprofit organization meant for girls to feel comfortable just being around each other and help girls who may eventually go into the technology field,” Kolly said.