People of all ages can make a lot of things at the Gizmo makerspace in Coeur d’Alene. The non-profit organization has also put a spotlight on empowering women and girls through its Girl Revolution in Technology (G.R.I.T.) program.

The program’s newest offering is a free Girls Who Code class held after school every Tuesday through March 17 that is open to girls in grades 6-12.

“G.R.I.T. is more than one thing that happens after school,” said Gizmo executive director and founder Barbara Mueller.

Mueller said it’s her goal to expose girls and women to all types of tools, whether that’s a screwdriver or computer code. “I just keep trying to find ways to improve women’s skill set,” she said. “They’re empowered and gain more confidence.”

The Girls Who Code class will be focused on Python computer language and on gaming in particular, Mueller said. “Python is one of the highest used languages in the world,” she said. “The reason we chose it is because you can use it in so many different ways. It’s an easy syntax to learn.”

The coding class is the latest entry in the G.R.I.T. program for women and girls. There’s a coding class for women and a summer camp for girls. There are classes to learn woodworking and Mueller is planning a “fix it” class in February that will teach a variety of skills, including electrical wiring. “We change it up a lot,” she said.

The Gizmo makerspace has offered a variety of other classes and training since it was launched six years ago.

“It’s just one arm of what we do,” Mueller said. “We do professional development for teachers. We have a lending library for teachers. We run a robotics team.”

There are upcoming classes in making felt hats, beginning welding, enameling, making furniture and working with leather. “We run free classes all the time,” she said. “We also have classes that we charge for.”

Every Saturday people can come in and use 3D printers if they sign up in advance. “We do a lot of technology here,” she said. “We also have a huge creative arts lab. We have virtual reality.”

There’s also a Gizmo to Extremes program that brings in experts to lead maker projects. “We’ve built underwater vehicles that go to the bottom of (Lake) Pend Oreille,” she said.

Mueller said she created Gizmo after discussions in the city’s 2030 Visioning projects indicated the need for a maker space. She wanted to empower people to learn new skills, including how to use technology to create. “It changes a whole bunch of things about your community,” she said.

At Gizmo it’s all about skill and not about who you are, Mueller said. “We have an 11-year-old in the machine shop and she’s teaching the 40-year-olds,” she said.

Gizmo has a lot of volunteers who keep the place running and a partnership with North Idaho College also means that students can work there as part of the work study program, Mueller said.

The free Girls Who Code class will gather every Tuesday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Gizmo, located in Suite 142 in the Hedlund Building on the North Idaho College campus. The first session of Girls Who Code was held Jan. 21, but Mueller said it will be easy for girls to join in and catch up if they begin coming on Jan. 28.

Instructors will give hand-on help to the students participating in the class, not giving lectures. “Everything we do at Gizmo is interactive,” Mueller said.

Although the class is free, girls must register online by visiting Gizmo-cda.org.