Students Buddy Up for ‘Hour of Code’
The Hour of Code is an annual
event around the world that happens
during Computer Science Education
Week, which this year was December
7-13. The St. Johnsbury School participated for the first time, in a schoolwide effort that included all students
and teachers at the school.
“Buddy classes” joined together,
with older and younger buddies working together and coding on school
laptops. No coding experience was
required, and coding activities were
self-guided. Coding activities included
“Star Wars: Building a Galaxy with
Code” and “Minecraft Hour of Code.”
The event was organized by Mr.
Morris and Mrs. Monahan, with support from school principals Mr. Redmon and Mrs. O’Farrell. “Mrs. Monahan and I created a basic schedule
and sent the information out to the
teachers,” said Mr. Morris. “The teachers and students did the rest. I’ve had
several teachers and students comment on what fun it was. We had a
whole week to complete our hour, but
actually finished in the first three
days.”
Though computers are everywhere
these days, Mr. Morris said that fewer
schools teach computer science than
10 years ago. “The technology we use
in and out of school changes so quickly, it’s hard to keep up,” he said. “Code
is the way we communicate with a
computer. The ‘Star Wars’ program
taught kids a basic coding language
called JavaScript.
Because our entire school participated in the event, we are eligible to
win a class-set of laptops (or $10,000
for other technology), among other
prizes. “We signed up to win the
prize,” said Mr. Morris, “and are keeping our fingers crossed.”
By Sophia H.
Catamount Staff Reporter
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Student artwork by Kay Matthews, 3rd Grade