Brielle Mailed is a senior at Glendale High School, and she is the founder and president of the Coding Club. She is also a club officer for the E-Sports Club, the Red Cross Club, and the Best Buddies Club. She was a former athlete on the GHS girls basketball and girls tennis teams as well. 

During her free time, Brielle likes to journal, because “it is a way for me to reflect on myself”, while also keeping a record of the things “that I would otherwise not remember.” She is also a huge K-drama and K-pop fanatic. Brielle claims that her favorite K-drama is Crash Landing on You and her favorite K-pop group is Stray Kids.

Brielle was inspired to found the Coding Club at GHS because of a summer immersion program that she took through Girls Who Code. She realized that “coding is a really important skill that could open up a lot of opportunities” for different people. 

The club officers of Coding Club this year are Nicole Wong, Ava Bryden, and Katherina Dela Cruz, and their club advisor is Mr. Gilberto Lopez. Brielle is very happy that she is “working with people who I know are driven and kind.”

For their first club project of the year, Brielle said that each member is working on creating their own website, completely through coding. They are making it either as a personal portfolio or as an activist website, where they choose a topic to research and spread awareness about it. Brielle also mentioned that they might program Arduino boards this semester. 

Since this is the first year that Coding Club has been introduced to GHS, Brielle hopes that this club can “draw an interest in STEM.” She hopes that, through coding, people will realize that they can implement their skills into their future careers, because “coding is such a versatile asset.” 

Ultimately, Brielle wants to “create a more inclusive STEM community” through Coding Club. She wants students to know that they don’t have to be experienced in coding in order to join this club. Students will be able to learn a lot about coding by attending the club meetings. 

For the future of Coding Club, Brielle hopes that it will continue on after she leaves high school. She thinks that this club can “be a huge part of the tech community in Glendale.” With a growing interest in coding, she also hopes that the club will eventually turn into an elective class at GHS. 

After high school, Brielle plans to go to college, because she values her education. She is excited to learn new things and establish a larger support system wherever she ends up. Currently, she is thinking about becoming a pediatrician, and she hopes that she can combine her tech and medical interests through that career. 

We are so excited to have Coding Club at GHS and hopefully it will inspire more student interest in STEM courses! If you would like to join this club, you can attend their meetings once a month on Thursdays in Mr. Lopez’s Room 10101. You can also contact him at [email protected]!