River Hill student a ‘Birdland Hero’

CodeHER, which she founded, is a youth-run STEM nonprofit for girls

Saniya Vashist, a rising junior at River Hill High School, was honored by the Baltimore Orioles as a “Birdland Hero” at the team’s June 1 game against the New York Yankees. Vashist is founder of codeHER. ( Baltimore Orioles)

Saniya Vashist, a rising junior at River Hill High School, was honored by the Baltimore Orioles as a “Birdland Hero” at the team’s June 1 game against the New York Yankees.

Vashist is founder of codeHER, a youth-run nonprofit dedicated to empowering girls through computer science education. The organization hosts after-school programs for girls in Howard County middle schools, and has programs across the Mid-Atlantic targeting minority populations and underprivileged communities.

The Orioles cited her for “helping to expose young women to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) career options.”

In a press release, Vashist said codeHER is “entirely run by high school and college students from Maryland.”

Vashist said that this summer she and codeHER team will travel to Morocco for two weeks to teach 30 underprivileged Moroccan orphan girls and “inspire them to pursue careers in tech fields.”

—Staff reports