Open Sesame Coding for Kids is about having fun, but also introduces children who are impoverished and dealing with serious life challenges to the possibilities of a future in technology and computer science — both girls and boys, from kindergarten to eighth grade.
They were introduced to the basics at a young age — McPhie, 16, through games her grandfather taught her on the computer, and Narula, 15, at a summer camp in seventh grade. McPhie wants a career in science; Narula is thinking about teaching.
The girls are bringing their workshops to shelters for victims of domestic violence, emergency shelters for youth in foster care, and temporary stops for homeless families that include Thomas House and the Orange County Rescue Mission’s Village of Hope in Tustin.
The enterprising girls won a total of $20,000 in prize money this past year as finalists and then winners in the Dragon Challenge competition sponsored by the Dragon Kim Foundation, and they are using it to buy more Chromebooks and expand their reach.
Their project fits the mission of the foundation, created by the parents of Dragon Kim. Dragon Kim and his friend, Justin Lee, died in 2015 during a camping trip to Yosemite. A huge tree limb fell on the tent where the boys, both 14, slept.