![]() ![]() One other benefit: The girls in danceLogic say the program has helped them with their math studies, Lindley said. DanceLogic also hired the student when the pandemic forced a switch to virtual learning, charging her with designing and implementing a virtual video-game design class for children, Lindley said. One danceLogic student even developed her own coding curriculum and taught younger children in her neighborhood library, said Lindley. “We make a space for these young women to expand their agency and autonomy in the field of STEM,” she said. Bridgers said she’s seen many of the girls who participate develop into strong leaders and mentors. Students have shown an eagerness to take charge of the choreography and exchange ideas about what the dances should be. Helping others is also a theme at danceLogic. “If you have that representation, that interest, that support early, students are more likely to continue with their STEM journeys,” she said. “If you can get them early enough, when they’re talking about, ‘I want to work for NASA, I want to be an engineer or a gamer or a doctor’ - if you get them early enough, you can say, ‘You can do this,’” said Jones, who has worked with Philadelphia schools for many years. Reaching those students when they’re in the early grades is often crucial, and can help counter issues like a shortage of Black and brown teachers and other systemic factors. Many educators are designing STEM-focused programs for middle schoolers and younger children who might not otherwise think they can succeed in these technical fields. She soon found that both are “methods of creation,” she said. “Much of our dance class is centered around composition and choreography,” both of which use languages and techniques to build narratives and projects, said Cameron Bridgers, a danceLogic dance instructor who applied to teach at the program after receiving her dance degree from Temple University.īridgers said that initially, she wasn’t sure what the connection was between dance and computer programming. Sessions run from October through June, culminating with a performance at the annual West Park Arts Fest. The program is funded through grants and individual donations.Įach Saturday, the girls participate in dance class from noon to 1:20 p.m., take a short break, and then go into coding class until 2:30 p.m. Most girls in the program participate at no cost, Lindley said. Programs like danceLogic, Black Girls Do STEM, and the Ujima GIRL program at the University of California-Davis are a way of making inroads by reaching girls of color before they get to high school, she said.ĭanceLogic students range from 12 to 18 years old. Those low percentages persist “because we’ve allowed them to persist,” said Dia Jones, executive director of the STEM Educational Institute, a nonprofit group that provides technology programs for high school students in under-represented areas. Meanwhile, Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans collectively accounted for just 23%. A 2021 National Science Foundation report found that women made up just 34% of the workforce in the four professional fields collectively known as STEM. Recent research bears out Lindley’s point. “There are career opportunities that girls just aren’t aware of or don’t even think about exploring.” ![]() “There are not that many females in technology, especially coding,” she said. And programs that get kids interested in STEM when they are relatively young can be especially successful.ĭance, Lindley said, is “a hook” to open girls’ minds to exploring something new. Proponents say programs like danceLogic and others around the country are win-win, motivating kids to enter promising fields, while also diversifying and adding to the STEM workforce pipeline. The premise: Both coding and dance use repetition and combination, so using dance as a hook to attract girls to the program could lead to an interest in coding. Lindley started the program in 2018, teaming up with Franklyn Athias, a Comcast engineer, to offer basic coding lessons along with dance on Saturdays. But there’s an effort afoot in Philadelphia to change that through an unusual mix of dance and coding lessons.ĭanceLogic, which is run by the West Park Cultural Center, is “designed to educate, inspire, and cultivate girls of color in STEM,” said Betty Lindley, the founder and executive director. Women and people of color are under-represented in science, technology, engineering, and math. Chalkbeat Philadelphia is one of more than 20 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and economic mobility in the city. ![]()
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