Celebrating our Hackergal Educators!

“Feeling a little uncomfortable with your skills is a sign of learning, and continuous learning is what the tech industry thrives on! It’s important to seek out environments where you are supported, but where you have the chance to be uncomfortable and learn new things.”
- Vanessa Hurst, Co-Founder, Girl Develop It.

World Teachers’ Day gives our team at Hackergal the wonderful opportunity to recognize to our Hackergal educators and the passion they devote to empowering middle school girls to learn how to code. Teachers truly are the backbone of our organization — their dedication and hard work is what brings our program to life and inspires our thankfulness year-round!

I’m Kumiko, the program manager at Hackergal, but I was also a classroom teacher for over six years in the primary years. I really loved teaching — being part of a team of warriors waking up each day to tackle the biggest and littlest of challenges — a tricky new unit, the class clown, a difficult parent — teachers juggle it all. Having walked in their shoes, I fully appreciate the effort and energy our educators put into their students every day.

I also know that one thing teachers do best is learning and that’s what we see at Hackergal — teachers getting on board to learn something new. Whether that’s the new platform, the coding curriculum, or teaching a new group of girls, our Hackergal educators put in 110% and share their passion for learning with their students and with Hackergal.

We are just over one month into the back-to-school excitement and preparation for Hackergal’s December 2018 Hackathon is in full swing across Canada! I’ve been on the phone non-stop over the past couple weeks learning about new schools, talking to eager teachers, and hearing about the girls’ enthusiasm. That’s why I thought, what better time than now to show how thankful we are for our teachers? Today I want to break it down and share the top 3 reasons why Hackergal’s educators deserve a BIG thank you:

1. Teachers are on the front lines of our program delivery. Yes, they truly make it happen. From rostering their students, to resourcing the right tech, to facilitating the lessons, our teachers are out there learning and teaching coding side-by-side with their girls!
2. Teachers go above and beyond. We know that our girls are pumped about coding because teachers are always modelling that same confidence and excitement. Teachers go beyond delivering the content and show their enthusiasm to make the learning meaningful!
3. Teachers keep coming back for more! This year our inboxes are full of teachers reaching out about participating again. We love welcoming back our returning schools for another hackathon and love how teachers are totally on top of it once again!

So allow us to personally thank you for showing up for your girls in a way that really matters. We are thankful for the supportive environments you create and for giving girls the confidence to say YES to coding, YES to making an impact, and YES to a future with more Hackergals!