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Coding games – but first, peanut butter

By Emily Buergler, age 17 | June 1, 2016

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Emily Buergler, a senior at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, loves to code and co-founded Duchesne’s first programming club.

Programming games is my favorite hobby. I always wanted to be a part of a group of programmers so we could share tips and team up. In my junior year, I finally got my chance. The day that the paperwork for registering a school club was due, I recruited my friend, Kelly Tatum, and we founded Duchesne Academy’s first programming club!

Our club started out with seven members. At our first meeting, we did a peanut-butter-and-jelly demo to teach members general concepts about programming. The person speaking would have to tell my friend Kelly (the robot) exactly what to do, or else the sandwich would not be made how they intended! For example, when one person said “put the peanut butter on the sandwich,” the peanut butter jar would land ka-plop on top of and crushing the bread. Everyone was enjoying themselves, and it set the tone for the rest of the year.

After brainstorming, we decided our first project would be “Duchesne Dash,” a game where the player would guide a young girl by using arrow keys to help her navigate the halls of Duchesne, dodging students, stacks of textbooks, banana peels, and teachers on the lookout to give her a demerit. The player would have to arrive at class on time or risk earning a detention. Over time, the girl representing the player grew older, and the player could change her outfit or hairstyle. Although my club mates enjoyed working on the game and coming up with more ideas, it was impossible to finish in a year. The schedule only afforded our club about half an hour once a month, so we had to bench the project after a year.

This past year our club promoted the Hour of Code by putting up inspirational programming posters over the school halls. We also encouraged people to attend the annual Science Hack Day. Next year, after I’ve graduated, the group will morph into a Girls Who Code Club, joining it with a national network.

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