Students in all four Pine Bush elementary schools participated in the Hour of Code, a world-wide initiative to encourage boys and girls to get involved in computer science.
Circleville, EJR and PBE third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students all participated, while second- through fifth-grade students at Pakanasink had the opportunity to sit and try their hand at coding.
Coordinated in the district by Darcy Kocsis, technology integration coach for the elementary schools, the Hour of Code is an introduction to computer science for many students – some already code. It is designed to demystify coding and show students that coding is fun. Computer science also helps develop problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. Exposing students to computer science and coding early can set a foundation for success in 21st-century careers, according Code.org which runs it.
Pakanasink third graders coded a Minecraft game where they wrote the commands to move their character toward a ship. At CES, Mrs. Conklin’s class created code for a dance party game. They had many songs from which to choose. Their coding determined how the characters were going to dance. Of course, the students and teachers danced along with the characters.
“This is a wonderful program encouraging students early on to get involved with computer science and technology,” said Donna Geidel, assistant superintendent for Instruction for the Pine Bush District. “We want to form a foundation as early as possible to get our students interested in the sciences and the technology field. The Hour of Code is a great tool for that.”
Some classes had special guests, professionals in the field of computer science, who explained what their jobs entailed. At EJR, Al Jachimiak spoke to the students. He is a computer programmer – or problem solver, as he called it. His company makes apps.
Students asked great questions, including “why do you get locked out of an application if you forget your password three times” and “how many lines of code was needed for the app he was working on.”
These Pine Bush students were among 742,781,431 students from more than 180 countries to participate in the annual Hour of Code. It started out as a campaign to expand access to computer science in schools and increase participation by women and underrepresented minorities. It quickly became a world-wide effort to celebrate computer science. It is held during Computer Science Education Week, which was Dec. 3 to 9, 2018. However, teachers may conduct activities through the Hour of Code website anytime.