Last week, grade 11 student Riya Chandra appeared on a Girls Who Code panel at the Intel Education Visionaries Conference. Chandra participated in the Intel-sponsored seven-week Girls Who Code immersion program and was subsequently invited to be on the panel.

“As part of their conference, they wanted to put together a student panel to help give insight to educators. Intel asked Girls Who Code to choose two people to invite to speak, and I received an email with an invitation,” said Chandra.

During the panel, Chandra shared her background in computer science and discussed some of her projects. “It was great being able to receive so many amazing questions from these educators, because it showed how much they cared for their students,” she said. Harker computer science teacher Susan King was also in attendance, which Chandra appreciated.  “It was truly special as she really made an impact in my life,” she said.

Chandra believes the panel benefited educators by giving them real insight into student experiences. “We gave them honest answers about how we like to learn and gave them advice,” she said. “I think this panel will benefit students in the future as these educators will take back what they learned from the panel and apply it to their teaching.”