Students Participate in Hour of Code

More than 20% of WAIS students participated in Hour of Code. Many of those that did, participated in multiple hours as well. Over half of sixth and eighth grade participated, as well as a fair number of high school students in tech/design courses and many in upper level math courses. See our Hour of Code page for examples of just a few of the ways our students participated.

Hour of Code started as a US initiative to increase exposure and awareness of Computer Science, and quickly became a worldwide event, across 180 countries. The demand for computer scientists and programmers is expanding much, much faster than our society creates. This isn't because its hard or because the pay isn't good. Programmers and computer scientists make good pay and have a lot of benefits. The bigger issue is a lack of awareness for students.

Many countries around the world begin teaching computer science in elementary, some at the same time they begin teaching children how to read. At most US schools, students are lucky if they have the option to take a computer science course by the time they get to high school. Only around 10% of high school students nationwide have the option of taking a computer science course, because roughly only 1 in 10 high schools in the US offer Computer Science.

Sure, not every student is going to become a programmer, but not every student is going to become a scientist, writer, historian, or mathematician either. Let your student try an Hour of Code; because they should at least have the opportunity to try programming. Learn more about Hour of Code at Code.org.