Left: Emerson volunteers for The Hour of Code, 2018, were, Jeff Brown, Drew Farrell, Tony Zara, and Jake Clark. Right: Clark helps students with an Hour of Code game.
On Friday, December 7, volunteers from the community introduced Emerson Elementary School students to some basic coding skills for the Hour of Code. Hour of Code is an annual nationwide event with the goal of getting pupils interested in computer science, coding basics, and game development. Youngsters worked with game themes like Star Wars, Flappy Bird, and this year’s favorite, Dance Party! These activities helped the children practice coding skills and achieve leveled goals.
Volunteers were Westerville City Schools Technology Coach Drew Farrell; Jeff Brown, DC, a doctor gone techie and CEO at HIPAAmate, a local software startup company; Jake Clark, Experience Architect with pillar Technology; and Tony Zara a partner at Conversion Path, a digital ad agency.
“I think it’s important to introduce students to people in a variety of tech careers to get them thinking about their future,” said teacher Mara Clark. “There are so many options now, and there will be so many more when my fourth graders enter the workforce.”
The volunteers brought a range of experience in technology including web development, app development, and analytics. For most of the activities, pupils worked with a partner on projects, similar to tech industry “paired programming” practices.
“It was so cool. We can, like, do anything on there!” commented fourth grader Quinn Evans.