Phoenix P-12 Community College’s two teams have secured a 30-minute online hangout with the head of the Tech Girl Superheroes movement for Australia and New Zealand.

Their mission was to build an app with each Phoenix team choosing to focus on helping high school students find the right university course.

Tech Girls worked with industry experts and mentors but Madelyn Thomas said a lot of the program was also about relying on your own problem-solving skills.

“There was one part where my team got a bit stuck, but we kept working on it, and ending up getting it working. It made you feel proud to accomplish something,” Madelyn said. “You didn’t need prior knowledge to take part...I loved it.”

Tech Girl Superheroes aims to break the stereotype that the world of computer science (coding and building apps) is a man’s game. Up for grabs was a chance to go to San Francisco and show the app at a major conference.

Phoenix College e-Learning and Information and Communication Technologies teacher Deanne Joosten said having such talented students in the school community helped create some exciting opportunities and inspiration for other students in science, technology, engineering and maths pathways.

But mostly, the program helped the girls to learn a lot about their abilities.

“The role models and industry connections they made helped really bring the girls out of their shells,” Ms Joosten said. “It’s really great for students to connect with someone outside school to show them different pathways...It has really catapulted the girls into thinking careers they could pursue.”

Fairfax Media was a major sponsor for Tech Girl Superheroes. Phoenix’s U Quiz pair Madelyn Thomas and Clancy Piera were mentored by Emily Sweet, who oversees digital news for regional mastheads across Australia, including The Courier.

Girls now have a chance to tweak or re-enter their app for another competition.