SCHOOLS PROMOTE COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION THROUGH HOUR OF CODE

Cypress Creek High School junior computer science student Helen Dinh assists sophomore student Lily Blanco with an Hour of Code activity during her photography class period on Dec. 8. More than 3,000 Cypress Creek students simultaneously participated in the activity.

Thousands of CFISD students joined the grassroots Hour of Code movement during Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 7-13, to learn the important role computer science plays in educational and career opportunities.

Educators and students logged on to Code.org throughout the week to watch videos, take tutorials and practice coding through interactive games. The global Hour of Code movement reached tens of millions of students throughout 180 countries.

“Coding is a catchphrase for computer science but it’s a catchphrase that has caught on,” said Dr. Tom Halbert, Cypress Creek computer science instructor. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a doctor or an engineer, everything is being done with computers or robots or technology in some fashion. I’ve been beating this drum for 20 years. I’ve seen this coming, if you watch the way the world is evolving. It only makes sense that there would come a tipping point where the masses would realize coding is necessary.”

Cypress Creek High School students Kevin Ceron, left, and Will Dinehart participate in an Hour of Code activity during their photography class on Dec. 8.

Cypress Creek’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) endorsement group made Computer Science Education Week a schoolwide spotlight, scheduling technology-related events each day for “Geek Week at Creek.” Tuesday’s event allowed the school’s 3,000 students to simultaneously participate in the Hour of Code as computer science students served as instructors for each classroom.

Students Cameron Ellis and Helen Dinh said they enjoyed the experience of guiding peers through the coding lesson in Lynda Crocker’s photography class.

“Not many people really know what coding is. When people think ‘code’ they think staring at a bunch of numbers on a screen,” Ellis said. “It’s cool that we can teach them what it is and they’re not intimidated by it. We kind of feel like the odd ones out doing computer science, but now everyone in the school is doing it.”

Cypress Creek programming student Cameron Ellis, right, participates in a coding activity with Steven Stone of the instructional technology team.

Crocker said her students benefited from the Hour of Code lesson.

“I think it’s really important that all our kids get to participate in it at the same time,” she said. “When you teach and you want kids to understand immediately, collaboration is often the best way. The reaction has been positive, and they all appear to be engaged.”

Halbert said he hopes the activity spurs more schoolwide involvement in computer science.

Jowell Elemetary School students participate in an Hour of Code activity during Computer Science Education Week.

“One of our primary goals was to get our special populations involved,” he said. “If you look at the computer science field, the special populations are not involved, and it’s not because they can’t do it; it’s because they’re not informed. We want to let the people who have no idea what it is see it so they can make an informed choice. I’ve already seen today a number of kids say, ‘Oh wow, this is cool. I didn’t know I could do this.’ And that small little bit may change their minds and put them into a profession where they can be very successful.”

Several other CFISD campuses joined the Hour of Code movement:

School	Students participating
M. Robinson Elementary School	120
Birkes Elementary School	450
Holmsley Elementary School	118
Fiest Elementary School	50
Kirk Elementary School	668
Jowell Elementary School	376
ALC-East / Adaptive Behavior Center	15
Emmott Elementary School	550
Woodard Elementary School	120
Metcalf Elementary School	900

  

Woodard Elementary School students learn computer science concepts through an Hour of Code activity. Pictured, left to right, are Ava Milkovisch, Caiden Smookler and McKenzie Rogers.

Cypress Creek students (counter-clockwise from left) Abigail Akard, Sarah Garner, Ethan Muyskens and Alexi Barnett participate in a coding activity in Lori O’Donnell’s art class on Dec. 8.