Over the course of our meeting planning and preparation we have developed a series of “How To” documents as reference material for the projects we work on. We are putting these together into our on-line library for easy reference. Starting off, we have documents on Web site development with Glitch and GitHub, Responsive Web Design with Bootstrap, Python Flask for Web Development, and Visual Studio Code for Web Development. We will be adding more and updating along the way.
Category: Uncategorized
2020-2021 FVGCC Schedule Announced
Last FVGCC Meeting for the 2019-2020 school year took place on Zoom. We said farewell to 4 amazing Seniors who will be continuing their educations at Iowa State University, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Nebraska, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

2020-2021 Remote Schedule Announced
October 2 – Welcome! Introduction to Slack and Codesters
October 16 & 23 – Jump into Codesters (Python)
November 6, 13, 20 – Codesters (Python), GitHub, & Intro to Glitch
December 4, 11, 18 – Website UI: HTML & CSS in Glitch
January 8, 15, 22 – Putting it all together: JavaScript & Python in Glitch
February 5, 12, 19
March 5, 12, 19
April 9, 16, 30 – Can we meet in person yet??!!??
May 7 – last meeting and farewell to our Seniors!
March 13, 2020 – Meeting at 25N
This week we will have a mini code-challenge hack!
The Challenge: Build an on-demand analog clock in Codesters.
- The application should ask the user “What time is it?”
- The user should be able to type a time in standard 12 hour digital format. Example: 2:34 (am & pm is not necessary)
- The UI should display an analog clock face with the time requested by the user
- The application should be able to give feedback when the input is invalid
- After the analog clock has been displayed, the user should be offered the option to enter another digital time
See you then!
Hackathon Adventures! #HackFTW
This February, our Fox Valley Girls Coding Club joined up with other girls to form two teams at the Naperville Hack for the World (#HackFTW) Hackathon!
Who were the winners??
https://hack-for-the-world.devpost.com/
Looking for all the submissions?
January 31, 2020 – Meeting at 25N
We will follow the agenda posted for last week’s meeting.
January 24, 2020 -Meeting at 25N
January 24th meeting cancelled due to weather! We will follow this agenda for the January 31st meeting
AGENDA & NOTES:
WELCOME/REVIEW
- Welcome any new members
- Make sure everyone is signed up in GroupMe, Slack, Codesters, and GitHub
- Any questions, comments, or ideas from our last meeting?
- Any additional info/skills/setup needed for members attending Hack For the World hackathon in Naperville on February 1
- Sustainable Development Goals
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300
- Sustainable Development Goals
Set up Mac and Windows laptops for:
- Python, pip (Python’s package installation manager), and IDLE
- Practice Python Create a simple Python program using terminal or command window and/or IDLE
- Practice pip: Use pip to install PyGame and Kivy
- PyGame: modules for creating Python games including Sprites, sounds, and more
- Kivy: framework for creating cross-platform UI in Python
- Practice: create a simple app in kivy
- Visual Studio Code: Code editing with rich editing capabilities,including Intellisense, debugging, code snippets, and more
- Practice: create a simple Python program in VS Code
- Practice: Edit a PyGame in Visual Studio Code
Instructions for installing all of the above:
More Good Stuff to Try:
Enhanced Python Flask app on Glitch: We previously looked at a simple Python Flask app together that accepted user input for a Dream to add to a list kept in memory. We now have a working prototype that incorporates a Snake game and uses persistent storage to keep a leaderboard in a file https://glitch.com/~rainbow-brie
Classes: Use of Class as a data structure in Python. May demonstrate/practice in Kivy and is also used in the above Python Flask app
Web Sites in VS Code/Connecting VS Code to Glitch: We will not have time to do this as a group during tonight’s meeting, but if anyone is interested in creating/editing/debugging Web sites in Visual Studio Code and/or connecting your Glitch projects to Visual Studio code for editing here is a guide: Web Sites and Glitch in VS Code
January 17, 2020 Meeting Cancelled
** No Meeting Tonight** Due to weather. See you all next week on January 24th at 25N at 5:45
January 10, 2020 – Meeting at 25N
As we start off our 2020 New Year we will meet at 25N tonight.
Agenda & Notes:
Welcome/Review
- Welcome any new members
- Make sure everyone is signed up in Slack, Codesters, and GitHub
- Any questions, comments, or ideas from our last meeting?
- Review basic Web site creation on Glitch
- These are the tutorial documents from our last meeting for anyone who missed them:
New or Continued Topics for Tonight
- Discuss plans for the Naperville hackathon
- Hack For the World Web site
- What type of technology would you like to use?
- Build a Web site
- Create a game?
- Other ?
- What skills should we practice in preparation?
- Enhance your Web site with Bootstrap
- Bootstrap is a framework that makes Web sites look beautiful
- Change themes easily with Bootswatch Themes
- We will do a demo together to get this into everyone’s project
- Help with setting up Python environment on laptops as needed/wanted
December 13, 2019 – No Meeting Tonight
There is no FVGCC meeting tonight. We will see everyone on Friday, January 10, 2020 at 25N Coworking for our first meeting of the new year. Happy Holidays! See you in 2020!
March 8, 2019 Meeting
We will be meeting in the boardroom at 25N.
Agenda & notes:
- Review the NIU Hackathon – how did it go?
- Potential Jr. Hackathon with FoxBuild?
- Schedule for the rest of March and April?