(Source: Pattarin / stock.adobe.com; generated with AI)
Based on an interview with Christine Thompson
As the Director of Instruction and Summer Programs at the well-known nonprofit Girls Who Code, Christine Thompson loves connecting students—especially those from underrepresented and underprivileged backgrounds—with the tools, relationships, and confidence to succeed, whether at a local elementary school, a national association, or a global nonprofit.
Christine Thompson currently serves as the Director of Instruction & Summer Programs at Girls Who Code, overseeing program innovations for over 9,000 students annually. At Girls Who Code, she provides strategic direction and oversight for the design and implementation of Summer Programs, as well as establishes and supports the organization's broader training and professional development strategy. She has developed award-winning STEM curricula and professional learning content as a specialist for Discovery Education and implemented integrated K-5 STEM programs aligned to Next Generation Science Standards as a STEM Specialist for Montgomery County Public Schools.
In 2014, Thompson was teaching at a dual-language Title I elementary school in Montgomery County, Maryland, when she became the school’s sole specialist for the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program for its 500-plus students.
Thompson leapt at the opportunity and soon found herself learning as she went. “I did a lot of research to determine how I could make STEM more meaningful and impactful for my students,” she recalls. “But ultimately, it was my connection with the students that helped me improve most.”
A significant part of this effort revolved around building STEM awareness with the school’s students from Latino/a, Black, and other underrepresented communities. Fortunately, Thompson’s Cuban-Hispanic heritage afforded her a unique connection with these students.
“Some students had just come to the United States and were not feeling confident in their English or found it challenging to express themselves and connect with the curriculum,” she remembers. “Other students didn’t have ample learning opportunities at home because their parents worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. My goal was to connect with them in an authentic way and give them confidence and encouragement that they could pursue anything they dreamed of—that opportunities were available to them.”
For Thompson, this meant applying for grants to purchase a 3D printer or take her students sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, inviting STEM professionals from diverse backgrounds to speak at the school’s Science Day, and holding a STEM Career Night where students’ parents discuss STEM connections in their own careers. Once, making this connection meant driving an hour on a Saturday to attend a student’s birthday party.
“My student could see me there having food and conversation with her family and caring about her,” Thompson says. “As a teacher, especially in a dual-language or Title I school, you have to take time out of your personal life and take extra steps to make those meaningful connections with students.”
After seven years in the classroom, Thompson broadened her influence by helping other teachers in the district improve their STEM teaching, building sharable STEM lesson plans, shaping policy for teachers nationwide through the National Science Teaching Association, and creating invaluable professional development content for STEM educators worldwide at Discovery Education. But an opportunity to join Girls Who Code in 2021 brought her back to what originally motivated her to teach STEM at the Title I school in Montgomery County—supporting students who historically have been underrepresented and creating positive opportunities.
“During the interview process, I saw that Girls Who Code was a perfect fit with my values,” Thompson recalls. “I could see that the organization genuinely cared about the world and its employees.”
In the past three years, she has progressed to leading the organization’s Instruction and Summer Programs, always focused on improving programs to help girls and nonbinary students overcome often daunting barriers to entry in the tech industry.
“The culture in technology historically has been very male-dominated,” says Thompson. “Being the only female on a team may be very intimidating. And then individuals from underrepresented groups—like the Latinx, Black, or Indigenous communities—experience another layer of difficulty. One of our favorite sayings is, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see.’ So, we often ask this question: ‘How can we bring or increase access to these, and all, people?’”
In response, Girls Who Code provides coding clubs in elementary schools, summer computer science programs in high schools, and technical and career preparation programs for college-aged students. It involves volunteers from corporate partner organizations to mentor these students. The organization also provides coaching to help students polish their technical interview skills, résumés, and social profiles. All these programs are provided for free, with stipends, technology, and other accommodations offered to remove any barriers that might keep students from participating.
“We also focus on building a community, or Sisterhood, where our girls and nonbinary students can connect with and support each other,” Thompson adds. “It gives them a core advisory of friends—people who are in the same position as they are and whom they can continue to connect with and gain strength from as they move from our programs into the tech industry.”
Thanks to the work of Thompson and her colleagues at Girls Who Code, more girls and nonbinary students are becoming interested in and learning coding, with the organization’s Summer Programs now reaching students in ninety-five countries and the number of college- or post-college-aged alumni totaling 218,000.
Another impressive outcome of the organization is the educational attainment of Girls Who Code alumni. Forty-six percent of them have earned computer science degrees, compared to only 7 percent of women nationally.[1] Alumni from underrepresented races or ethnicities are earning science and related degrees at nine times the national average.
Even more meaningful to Thompson than these statistics are students’ individual success stories; for example, the alumna who became a Girls Who Code teaching assistant and eventually an instructor, working alongside Thompson to help others gain the knowledge and confidence she now enjoys.
These inspiring stories continually renew Thompson’s motivation to help build STEM connections. Recently, a student from a struggling Egyptian community presented her final project: a software platform designed to help local Egyptian business owners more efficiently market their services and grow their businesses. “As we see with so many of our students, she had such a desire to give back to and support her community,” Thompson says. “And she brought together these really interesting connections through her project to do that.”
Ultimately, for Thompson, the future success of Girls Who Code students and alumni—and STEM educators at large—depends on connections.
“No one can do it by themselves,” she says. “Having a community, finding connections, and building upon what others have tried is so powerful. I’ve found that this connection and collaboration in education is where the magic happens.”
Mouser Electronics is an industry leader in supporting educational initiatives that inspire and engage students in STEM-related projects and programs. It is through its unwavering support to education, particularly at the secondary and postsecondary levels, that Mouser strives to motivate, inspire, and encourage new generations of engineers and scientists to lead us forward.
Sources
[1] https://girlswhocode.com/2023report/
Mouser Electronics, founded in 1964, is a globally authorized distributor of semiconductors and electronic components for over 1,200 industry-leading manufacturer brands. This year marks the company's 60th anniversary. We specialize in the rapid introduction of the newest products and technologies targeting the design engineer and buyer communities. Mouser has 28 offices located around the globe. We conduct business in 23 different languages and 34 currencies. Our global distribution center is equipped with state-of-the-art wireless warehouse management systems that enable us to process orders 24/7, and deliver nearly perfect pick-and-ship operations.