Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students are getting into computer coding, and it is not just in a computer science class. A new partnership with Code.org is helping CCPS infuse computer science and coding in math, science and computer classes for all students, from kindergarteners to high school seniors.
Superintendent Kimberly Hill announced a partnership agreement with Code.org Jan. 30 at Westlake High School during a program that began in Dianne O’Grady-Cunniff’s computer science class and moved to the auditorium for a joint statement by Code.org and CCPS officials. The partnership provides training for teachers, expands computer science class offerings and upgrades curriculum.
The announcement included lessons in computer science. Four elementary school students who participated in the recent Code.org-sponsored Hour of Code taught Charles County Sheriff Rex Coffey and Charles County Commissioner Vice President Reuben Collins how to write code. The students used an Angry Bird app to teach Coffey how to create the bird’s moves one line of code at a time. Collins learned how to create an animated cartoon figure using coding in a program called Scratch.
Pat Yongpradit, Code.org’s education director, called CCPS a model district saying the school system is a national leader in the promotion of computer science for students. “There are only a few school systems nationwide implementing computer science in such an aggressive way. Every single kid in high school will have the opportunity to take a computer science class. This shows Charles County’s commitment to give all students an opportunity to learn computer science,” Yongpradit said in an interview.
“Computer science helps students create, not simply use, new technologies …
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