LYNNFIELD — Who knew that learning could be this much fun?
High-school and elementary students came together for the district’s annual Hour of Code event.
Organized by K-12 Digital Learning Coach Rochelle Cooper, sessions were held at both the Huckleberry Hill School and the Summer Street School.
“This annual event is one that is anticipated by all,” Cooper said. “This is an event that we are happy to bring back this year, especially because it has been on hiatus previously because of COVID. There is so much value and excitement in bringing our high-school learners together with our elementary learners. We all learn from each other.”
The day began with a short presentation from the high-school students. After that, classrooms split into teams of two to three students.
Cooper said the students worked on what’s called block coding, using three different applications — Candy Quest and Dragon Blast from Tynker (grades 1-3) and Hello World! From Code.org (grade 4).
“Every time they leveled up in an application, students would track their progress on a tracking sheet,” Cooper said, adding that some of the younger students were even trying out some of the more challenging applications once they got the hang of their grade-level applications.
Liam Gorman and Cameron Sullivan provided assistance in Christine Meinert’s third-grade class.
Gorman said being exposed to coding at a young age will help introduce kids to computers and how they work.
“It’s important because by the time they reach high school, they are ready,” he said. “This even teaches them skills they need to design video games and other applications on their own.”
Sullivan said the students were learning the basics of block coding and how to control characters to do things on their command.
“Technology is our future,” Sullivan said. “This is the beginning of learning a powerful skill to control and harness our future. This isn’t just mindless video gaming. This is a productive activity that gives kids real computer skills.”
Meinert said she cannot believe how far technology has come. She remembers learning how to create a website when she was in grade school.
“God forbid, we used the wrong backslash,” she said.
In Lynne McCumber’s third-grade classroom, Anna Radulski and Ally Sykes were helping out.
“Technology is such a big thing and coding at this age is such a good thing to learn,” Radulski said. “Computers are going to be around for a long time.”
“It’s good to see them all working together and giving each other high fives when they get it right,” added Sykes.
McCumber said she was pleased to see the way her students refused to give up when confronted with a roadblock.
“When they didn’t succeed on their first try, when they made a mistake, they were persistent and learned a great lesson about how to figure out their mistakes and correct them,” she said. “They are living in a digital world in which they are problem solving and using critical-thinking skills. Today was their chance to shine in so many different ways. We are lucky to have this opportunity.”
Maria Gravini and Genna Gioioso helped out in Rebecca Scenna’s second-grade class. At the end of the session, Gioioso asked the class what they liked most about coding.
One student said, “getting it right,” while another said, “solving the problems.” A third student said, “being able to write a story.”
Judging by the smiles on their faces and their energy level, it was clear that the students were fully engaged and having a great deal of fun working together. According to Scenna, the kids had so much fun that when asked what they wanted to do for their next “celebration” activity, they said they wanted to code.
“Usually they ask for a movie, so this says a lot about how much they enjoyed this,” Scenna said. “I loved watching everyone trying and trying and trying. No one said, ‘I can’t do this.'”
