San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Teen publishes programming book for kids in Spanish
Being the only girl, coupled with being the only Hispanic student, in many of the computer science classes and programs Athena Coco Hernandez was in, was a lot. Don't misunderstand, though. It wasn't enough to push her out; in fact, it compelled her to bring other students like herself into the field.
“It was a bit concerning because, with things like natural language processing and machine learning and stuff, it's really important to have diverse people working on things like that, and I wanted to see more people like me. … I went to seek out students that might not have access to computer science classes,” she says. “I always really like to share my love for learning through teaching; because it was my favorite subject, I recognize the importance of how technology is growing in the world and how it can open many opportunities for students. I just wanted to provide more opportunities for students to sort of get started in the subject and find the passion that I found.”
She started her organization, Codificar Con Coco, to tutor and mentor other students in computer science, including programming and coding. The services are free, with a focus on increasing the number of Spanish-speaking students in this subject area. After participating in a summer research program at New York University, San Diego's The League of Amazing Programmers, and TECHNOLOCHICAS (a national program of the National Center for Women & Information Technology and Televisa Foundation, which raises awareness for careers in tech for young Latinas and their families), she's recently published a book titled “Como Codificar para Niñ@s: Una Introduccion a Python” (Programming for Youth: An Introduction to Python).
Hernandez, 17, is a senior at The Bishop's School in La Jolla and a 2022 national student award winner of NCWIT'S Aspirations in Computing program. She took some time to talk about her book, its focus on Spanish-speaking children, and her view on the importance of increased diversity and representation in technology careers. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For a longer version of this conversation, visit sandiegouniontribune.com/ sdut-lisa-deaderick-staff.html.)
Q: Where did your own interest in computer science first come from?
A: In eighth grade, I took this coding class called “Coding for Fun,” and it actually happened by accident because it worked with my schedule and it was the only elective class available. At first, I was like, ‘Oh, I don't really like this class,' but once we started using Python turtle graphics, which is more like the visual component to computer science when you're first learning, I became really interested, so I enrolled in the class the next year. From there, I really liked how it was a lot of problem solving and math, but also a different subject that I had not been introduced to before.
Q: Tell us about the book. How is it laid out? What material is covered in the book?
A: From the title, of course it's an introduction to Python. Python is a great language for younger students to learn because there are a lot of key words and it's less technical; it's easier to understand, so I decided that would be the best language for students to start with. I start out my book with things like, ‘What is computer science? Why is it important? What will you find in this book?' Then, I go into how to set up a Replit account, which is a great way for students to gain access to a text editor, which is basically what you write your code in. It's free, it's online, and the only thing was that it's in English, so I had to make sure I had a lot of screenshots and then I was translating everything into Spanish.
Once they have the text editor set up, I go into a bit of basic math because I noticed the disparity level in basic math concepts (like exponents and multiplication) were a bit lacking in the students I tutor in Mexico versus the ones I tutor here in the United States. So, we learn about binary numbers, exponents, mods, and how to translate these math concepts into lines of code. Then, I get into the bulk of computer science and I start out with data type, which is a key topic that students have to understand because you're manipulating data, so how does the computer do that? And how do I translate these thoughts I have into something that a computer would understand? Then, I go into more logistical things like statements, loops, functions and modules, classes and objects. At the end, I wrapped up with something more visual because I really fell in love with visual components, which is why I really like designing websites and apps. I go into turtle graphics, which is a Python library, and then I leave a little note at the end for anyone who wants to enroll in my classes, which are free of charge.
Q: Why is it important to you that computer science be more accessible? What kind of difference do you think this makes?
A: I really think it's important that we have diverse people working on the things that are going to be so important in the future, particularly with technology. It's being incorporated in all parts of our lives. Recently, in my advanced honors computer science class at school, we were learning about machine learning, and it's based on algorithms, but algorithms are based on past datasets. These past datasets we're passing to these new machine learning algorithms, they're going to be trained on ideas and methods of the past, so in order to change this ideology, I really want more diverse students, like me, to recognize the importance of having a diverse workforce.
I'm a TECHNOLOCHICAS ambassador in partnership with NCWIT, and we work on expanding to more Latinos who want to go into tech. I recently attended one of their conferences and we were talking about natural language processing, and an ambassador named Ruth Vela taught me about how it is really important to her work to identify the importance of the lack of Spanish datasets in the work that she's doing. Even something like that can really change the algorithms that she's working with, so she said, “We need more people like you, Athena. We need more people who recognize the importance of this problem and who will change it, by working in this field.”