An educational alliance for digital transformation
Today, Tuesday 8 April, the hackathon marks the end of this year's edition of Coding Girls in Palermo, the programme that promotes the active participation of girls in scientific and technological fields. But rather than an end, it's a beginning. Because something bigger is born from this stage: a growing community, a strengthening educational alliance, a new operational centre that will take shape within the University of Palermo.
‘The University of Palermo has chosen to support us in an extraordinary way’, says Cecilia Stajano, community manager. “There are 47 volunteer trainers, male and female students from the University, who have dedicated their time and skills to accompanying over 100 school students on an immersive journey into the world of programming, digital creativity and innovation”. This totally free commitment, part of the university's third mission, demonstrates how knowledge can truly become a lever for social transformation.
‘I'm passionate about education because I believe it's essential to include as many points of view as possible, thus enriching knowledge and fostering innovation,’ says Gabriele Sano, a physics student.
The schools involved, enthusiastically led by their teachers, welcomed the trainers into their classrooms, transforming them into active laboratories where digital languages become tools for solving problems, expressing creativity and collaborating.
‘I'm fascinated by the fact that the whole world around us is governed by chemistry. Coding Girls was the means to realise the ‘Metaverse of Chemistry’ project and bring girls closer to science in a playful way’, reveals Irene Meli, who has a classical high school diploma and is now a chemistry student.
The programme, which lasted several weeks, ends with the hackathon on 8 April: a team challenge where students put their acquired skills to the test, but above all their ability to work together, propose solutions and imagine new scenarios. They will once again be guided by the university's young trainers.
‘Technology is useful and indispensable for better understanding what we can normally only intuit with the mind's eye’, explains Mario Fontana, an engineering student.
The value of this experience is twofold: for those who train and for those who are trained. The young tutors discover how powerful it is to share what they know, while the school students recognise themselves in those who are a little further ahead than them, but have already chosen to get involved in building the future.
‘Ever since I was little I've always had an insatiable curiosity. This desire to find answers has led me to explore the world more and more. My passion for physics stems from this’, confesses Ada Garzo, 20, a physics student.
The Palermo hackathon is not just a stage of the national tour, but a tangible sign of what happens when universities, schools and organisations listen to each other, act in synergy and believe in the possibility of building educational alliances capable of making an impact. Even if it is difficult. And we close with the courageous story of Costanza, 25, a physics student.
‘Science in general has always fascinated me in a way that no other subject ever has. Physics allows us to fully understand the world we live in. Unfortunately, not everyone manages to grasp the magic of this subject at school and many end up hating it and seeing it only as an obstacle. When I was at school and decided to study Physics at university, I immediately told my physics teacher, who replied: ‘Are you sure? You see how difficult it is.’ But can the difficulty of something really prevent us from experiencing its immense beauty?
