NHI students celebrate Computer Science Education Week
By Rebecca Seymour
Special to the Enterprise
OCONOMOWOC — With a focus on sparking curiosity for a bright future in the fields relating to computer sciences, Nature Hill Intermediate School students had the opportunity to plug into a global movement called The Hour of Code on Dec. 10.
Organized by the nonprofit organization Code.org, millions of students in more than 180 countries connected through a Minecraft Education Edition coding tutorial in one of the largest learning events in history during Computer Science Education Week (Dec. 915).
Kristine Chadwick teaches computer applications and coding at Nature Hill Intermediate and is also one of the advisors for the school's robotics club.
"We know that coding is going to be more and more in the lives of our students and are critical skills in fields like manufacturing and computer sciences. Programs and apps that impact our lives on a daily basis, like automated systems, self-driving cars, virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri, are all coded," she explained.
In today's tech-driven global economy, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, also known as STEM, have become a focal point in preparing students for 21st-century success. In a world where men have traditionally outnumbered women in these areas, there is also an increased awareness of the importance of reaching out to girls.
"We are trying to inspire more students, especially girls, to become interested in STEM-related fields. I have 18 students in my sixth-grade computer design class, and only three are girls," added Chadwick. "It's our responsibility to offer these types of courses and after-school activities like coding and robotics, so that all kids have the opportunity to really dig in and discover what their interests are."
"Coding is fun. You can use your imagination more and build different stuff. You just need to read the instructions carefully," said Gracelyn Jordan, 12. "I think boys like to code more because they like playing video games a lot. But it's not just for boys, and we shouldn't have to be afraid that it will only be boys in the class because girls can do it, too."
Empowering students
Technical account managers at Microsoft, Jane Krohn and Tanya Van Ells of Oconomowoc helped facilitate The Hour of Code, using the Minecraft Education Edition with the sixth-grade students in Chadwick's class.
"It's so exciting to be here for The Hour of Code. The goal is to partner with businesses like Microsoft to help teach millions of kids how to code. This is just the tip of the iceberg because we want to keep coming in, and hopefully the whole school could be involved," said Krohn.
In last week's session, kids had the opportunity to explore basic coding concepts and learn about artificial intelligence during an interactive simulation where they helped an agent prevent a forest fire and save a local village.
"This program teaches us how to create a game and it shows us how people code in real life and how we can use coding to help out the world," said Braden Ploch, 12. "At first it was hard sometimes, but after we were working with it for a while, it was easy."
"I'm so grateful for this opportunity. It was a great way to kick off the new trimester with my students. Teaching them how to code is what I do all year. Partnering with mentors and local business people also encourages our students to transform their passions into future careers," said Chadwick.
For more information, visit www.hourofcode.com.
Kristine Chadwick teaches computer applications and coding at Nature Hill Intermediate and is also one of the advisors for the school's robotics club. Here Chadwick assists one of her students, Jordan Moore, as he works with the interactive program.
Microsoft Technical account manager Jane Krohn helps NHI students as they begin working with the interactive program during The Hour of Code.
Photos provided by Rebecca Seymour