CodeYourSelf™
National Coded Self-Portrait Competition for Girls in grades 3-12.
Deadline: Friday, Feb 2, 2024


What a Coder Looks Like
Code/Art’s CodeYourSelf™ competition combines creativity, art, and coding to inspire more girls to pursue computer science while also helping change society’s view of what a coder looks like.
⌛ NEW 2023-2024 Theme: The Time Traveler ⌛
Deadline: February 2, 2024 @ 11:59 PM

Let’s Get Started!
Eligibility
Participants must be female-identifying or gender non-binary students in 3rd-12th grade who reside in the United States or the District of Columbia.
Objective
Write a computer program to generate a self-portrait using, but not limited to, Processing.js or p5.js, and provide a working link to view both the artwork and the code (e.g. Khan Academy, CodeHS, p5.js, Code.org).
Theme
⌛ 2024 Theme: “CodeYourSelf™: The Time Traveler“
Imagine you are a time traveler who has journeyed back to a specific era or decade in time or forward to your imagination’s view of a future time. Your task is to code a self-portrait that reflects the essence and spirit of that time. Choose an era or decade that fascinates you and resonates with you.
Along with your self-portrait, provide a brief artist’s statement explaining your choice of era and the inspiration behind your work. Share your thoughts on the connection between the chosen era and your personal identity. This is your chance to showcase your creativity, coding skills, and storytelling abilities in the world of time travel!
Guidelines
- Entry must include a self-portrait to qualify (i.e. a depiction of the artist/coder that includes the face, head, and shoulders).
- All design elements MUST be coded. No gifs, jpgs, pngs, images from an image library (e.g. Sprites from Scratch’s sprite library), or other graphic files can be part of your portrait. The inclusion of any of these non-coded elements in your entry will lead to disqualification.
- Portrait must pull inspiration from this year’s theme (students can explain connection to theme in write up).
- Each entry must include a clear photograph of the participant.
- Only one CodeYourSelf™ submission is allowed per entrant.
- Each entry must provide parent/guardian or teacher consent and contact information (if under 18 years old).
What to Submit
- All participants must first register at hub.code-art.com
- After registering, the submission form can be accessed on the dashboard (only accessible when logged into your Code/Art Hub account).
- A complete entry must include:
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- a working link to view the code and self-portrait
- a clear photo of yourself
- write-up answering the questions: (1) Which era or decade in time have you chosen as inspiration for your self-portrait? (2) What was the inspiration behind your entry? (3) What was most challenging from a coding perspective in creating your project? (4) What did you find most rewarding?
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Winning
CodeYourSelf™ 2024 will consist of two separate competitions: a national U.S. competition for students across the country (will also include South Florida entries) and a regional competition that will ONLY be for South Florida residents (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe Counties).
National Competition
- All submissions will be viewed by a panel of judges who will identify the top 10 finalists per Grade Division (Elementary, Middle, and High) using a judging rubric.
- The remaining 7 finalists, per grade division, will be recognized at Code/Art Fest and have their project printed in the CodeYourSelf™ book.
South Florida Regional Competition: “People’s Choice” voting
- For each grade division, the top 10 entries (determined by judging panel) will be exhibited at Code/Art Fest for the final in-person voting round.
- This final round will determine the 1st place regional winner per grade division.
Teacher Resources
- Teachers! Access our easy-to-teach lesson plans by registering to our Hub.
- Use our Excel template for easy submission of multiple student projects
- Submit 20+ student projects (made by female students) and receive a FREE t-shirt
- The top elementary, middle school and high school teacher – those with the most student submissions – will each win a $100 cash prize and be recognized during the Code/Art Fest awards ceremony.
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Important Dates
- Submission Deadline – Feb. 2, 2024 @ 11:59pm
- Judging Period – Feb. 5 – Mar. 8, 2024
- Winners Announced at Code/Art Fest – Mar. 16, 2024
Celebrate Winners at Code/Art Fest
Each spring, Code/Art hosts an Awards Ceremony & Tech Conference known as Code/Art Fest where all competition winners and finalists are recognized and awarded their prizes.
In addition to the awards ceremony, Fest attendees can enjoy workshops, keynotes and an interactive STEAM expo where their projects are displayed. Prizes for the winners are awarded both to reward effort and to encourage further exploration of coding.

Competition Prizes for National Winners
Winner
- (1) First place winner per grade division
- $150 Cash Prize
- Exclusive Superblue Tour (South Florida locals)
- Project published in CodeYourSelf™ book
- Code/Art Fest T-shirt
- Certificate
Finalist
- (1) Second place winner per grade division
- $100 Cash Prize
- Exclusive Superblue Tour (South Florida locals)
- Project published in CodeYourSelf™ book
- Code/Art Fest T-shirt
- Certificate
Finalist
- (1) Third place winner per grade division
- $50 Cash Prize
- Exclusive Superblue Tour (South Florida locals)
- Project published in CodeYourSelf™ book
- Code/Art Fest T-shirt
- Certificate