(Courtesy of AMIT) The AMIT network and Ra’anana municipality have joined forces with an organization called “she codes” to offer software development courses to young women free of charge during the course of this school year.

Young women in junior high and high school who are interested in learning how to code software can sign up for the course, which is being held once a week at AMIT’s Gogya teacher training center in Ra’anana. That innovative hub is where AMIT teachers learn radically new teaching methods that transform the learning experience into one that is more student driven. AMIT is hosting the sessions and will provide light refreshments for the girls and their mentors.

“This is a welcome initiative that aims to advance technological professions among girls and young women in Ra’anana,” said Eilat Deutsch, deputy director of research and development at the network.

AMIT, which was just named the No. 1 educational network in Israel by the Education Ministry, operates 110 schools and programs for more than 34,000 Israeli children, in which they receive the most cutting-edge, Jewish values-based education. The network prides itself on empowering students and preparing them for the 21st century by teaching them the skills that will serve them in school, in the army and in the workforce.

She codes was founded in 2013 to achieve an equal number of female and male software developers in Israel. Its 20,000 members include women who want to learn software development or make a career shift into high-tech, developers who want to advance their skills and network with other women in high-tech and high school students who are learning to program.

Its core values, which are Believe in Yourself, Perseverance and Community, reflect AMIT’s core values as well, making it a natural fit to empower young women in Ra’anana and elsewhere in Israel. For more news, visit www.amitchildren.org.