Project IT Girl

Project IT Girl

Project IT Girl is a Girlstart after-school program in Austin, Texas. The program consists of 45 high school girls (16 - 17 years old) who are learning how to use technology to make a difference in the world. The focus of the program in the 2007 - 2008 school year is educational games for One Laptop Per Child. During the Fall 2007 semester, IT Girls learn basic programming concepts, Python, and Pygame. Over 90% of the girls have no programming experience before this semester. Throughout the semester, the girls worked on a game based on litter prevention to practice using Python and Pygame (download the sample code). Each girl also designed a unique educational game (see the current game designs).

During the Spring 2008 semester, IT Girls are implementing their game designs using Python, Pygame, and the Game_templates. At the end of the semester, the games will be made available to the OLPC community.

Watch their progress!

• Main project page: http://www.girlstart.org/itgirl/year-two.html
• Wiki for game designs and project management: http://itgirl.wikispot.org/
• SVN repository of games, templates, and code recipes: http://itgirl.dreamhosters.com/itgirlgames/

Art Needs

The IT Girls have 30 games in development that are in need of graphic art. They have been frustrated by the lack of attractive, professional art that is released under an open license.

Girl	Artists Involved	Character Needs	Object Needs	Background Needs
AlexC		Girl in workout clothes, boy in workout clothes, various men and women	Gym equipment (bench press, weights, pool), variety of foods and drinks, weight scale, plate, table	Living room, cafeteria, gym, judges’ room
AlexiR			Cars in different colors, wheatgrass, carrot, sugar cane, corn, gas station, biofuel station	Cities and rural areas (all along a highway)
AlyssaW				Natural sceneries, including trees, ponds, etc.
AveryB and MeganS			Cadaver (preferably both male and female images), individual organ images: heart, lungs, brain, liver, kidney
CarolineS		Different types of whales in different positions for moving	Boat	Ocean
CeciliaP		Boy in school clothes, boy in graduation robe, security guard	Spray paint can	Plain concrete wall (for the back of a school)
DevanG		Boys and girls in various clothing	Paper, aluminum, plastic bottle, soda bottle, recycling bin, florescent light bulbs, regular light bulbs.	Landfill, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, living room, backyard
ElizabethA and MariselaR		Baseball player	Scoreboard	Baseball field
FrancesD		"bad guy"		Hospital building
GiselleF			Sad puppy, happy puppy, apple, cloud	Outdoors in a park with one large tree
GretchenP		Teacher, grocery store cashier, clothing store cashier	Loaf of Bread, Gallon of Milk, vegetables, Carton of Juice, Apple, Orange, Banana, Meat, Book, Desk, Blackboard, Pencil, Pen, Backpack, Notebook, Shirt, Pants, Shoes, Jacket, Couch, Table, Bed, Chair	A house, a school, a clothing store, and a grocery store on a road. Inside of the house, inside of the clothing store, inside of the school, inside of the grocery store
HannahL			Sink, cavities, soap, shampoo, coke bottle, symbol for strong bones (after drinking milk)
JessicaD			Frowns, smiles, rainbows, stormy clouds
JinAC				Classroom
JordanA				United States map with state outlines and dots for state capitals
KatyM		Dog, Boy, Goldfish, Cat, Parrot, Squirrel (all characters should have multiple images to simulate movement: mouth open, mouth closed, etc)
KatieL			dog, cat, whale, car, school bus
KaylaR		Patient, paramedic	Ambulance	Town with a road and a hospital, inside an ambulance
KelleyS			Musical Notation Objects: staff, bass clef, treble clef, whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, eighth rest, quarter rest, half rest, whole rest (all plain black); Other objects: music box, music box motor, music box lock	Music box factory, inside of musix box, music motor assembly room, box assembly room, storeroom, employee lounge, loading dock with a truck with back doors open
KortniL and SaraS		Boy detective, girl detective		Mansion
LeanaG		bee, monkey, frog, cat, rabbit, penguin, backpack, apple, stick, pole, tree		Jungle with a river
LindseyC			Alarm clock, radio, opening doors, purse, food items, clothes
MegumiT		Pre-teen girl standing with a "happy face", "sad face", "thinking face/pose" , "talking face"; standing business man with a "worried face", "talking face"; standing factory worker man		Inside of factory, office
PatriciaH			General science lab and experiment equipment	Alien worlds
SanjoliS				World map
SaraDS		Young farm girl and boy, elderly man	Trees, trash/paper, corn and stalks of corn
SohiniB		Enzymes, bacteria		Different body systems (cardiovascular, digestive, muscular, etc)
TandraH and VanessaW			Chocolate mousse, Brownies, Cupcakes, Blueberry Muffins, Cake, Cookies, Doughnuts, Cheese Cake, Crème Brulee, Pies, Souffle, Ice-cream Cake
ValerieC and BrittanyM		Grocery store cashier, librarian, teacher	Fruit, vegetables, desks, books	Town with grocery store, library, and school; insides of grocery store, Library, and School
ZoeG and VictoriaV		Boy wizard, girl wizard, princess, prince	Vegetables	Outside of castle, castle hall, castle kitchen, castle bedroom