Python Programming Workshop

On Saturday, September 25th, we explored Python Programming at the Mission Valley Library for our second workshop of the year! Led by Emma Hong, the workshop discussed programming topics including variable types, conditional statements, and repeating loops. The participants also learned about how computer science is used in everyday life! 

Throughout the workshop, the girls were very excited to participate in various interactive activities. For our first activity, one participant acted as a computer algorithm and gave verbal instructions to another participant who was blindfolded and had to avoid human obstacles! As one girl explained, the best part was “people going up and participating in activities, it felt like we were really part of it.” 

In addition to the activities, the girls also got to explore Python by participating in many hands-on coding missions. The girls were tasked with completing several programming missions that put their newly learned knowledge to test. One such mission that incorporated the girls’ imagination and creativity was the “Program Your Own Adventure Game.” The girls also learned about how to create visual graphics and designs through Python Turtle, a Python library used to generate colorful patterns and shapes on a computer canvas. The presentation theme was centered around turtles too, rightfully so! ​​

During the coding activities, the volunteers enthusiastically helped out with any bugs or issues that came up along the way as well! For participants who were already experienced in Python, they were given the opportunity to try out a few challenge problems too. “The hands-on activities were super fun, and it’s like being in real world situations,” mentioned another participant. The workshop concluded with Emma showcasing a few super interesting Python programs that included importing special libraries and recursion!

We hope all participants enjoyed the Python Programming workshop and look forward to attending our next event :)