Students from Fontbonne Hall Academy, Bay Ridge, are not known to pass up an opportunity to learn more about technology.

Last month, a group of students attended Techweek’s LAUNCH Start Up Competition in Manhattan. They met the next generation of technical inventors and professionals who were there to compete for $50,000 in cash and prizes.

Accompanied by Mark Surdyka, director of technology, and Rosemarie Ganser, computer science teacher, students were able to talk to the competitors and learn about their products. They learned that technology has a broad reach and can be found in many fields from fashion to music to laundry pickup services. They experienced virtual reality devices and programmable robots.

To provide even more opportunities for its students to learn about computers and technology, Fontbonne began a Girls Who Code Club this year.

The mission of Girls Who Code is to inspire and educate girls and equip them with the computing skills to pursue 21st-century opportunities. The members of the club learn valuable coding skills. They wrote programs on their very first day and recently used coding to complete an art design project. In October, students from Visitation Academy, Bay Ridge, joined Fontbonne students to create a combined club between the two schools. Next up: The girls will learn how to code their own video game!