Students Wow School Board with Presentation on Coding

A group of fifth-graders from Memorial Middle School attended Wednesday night's Board of Education meeting where they wowed board members and school administrators during a presentation on coding.

Coding, the students said, is the language used to create software, websites and video games for computers.

"So why is coding important to our future," one student asked. "Well, first of all, anybody who does coding, they can make millions of dollars."

Kidding aside, the students from Mrs. Petroski's class told board members that statistics show that by 2020 one million coding jobs will go unfilled.

"Computer programming jobs are growing at two times the national average," one student said. "The sad thing is that only two percent of science and math students learn computer science."

The students pointed out that coding opportunities are limited in Connecticut schools and that only one in five states requires coding as part of the curriculum. 

As part of their presentation, the students explained how they used the website http://scratch.mit.edu to create a story with characters and animation using coding. Board members were surprised to learn that students had only worked on the project for just a little more than a week.

Opportunity to Learn Coding

Petroski and her students have spent the entire school year exploring various technologies through the help of a grant. 

"With that grant and that technology we were able to basically blow the doors off everything that we have ever done before," Petroski told the board.

"I was also blessed to have the world's greatest students. They have forced me to think bigger, to think better, to be more innovative, to be more creative with my teaching because they wanted more," she added.

Students in the district have been given the opportunity to learn coding as early as the second grade, according to Michelle Gohagon, District 13's Technology Integration Specialist.

"We have the grand idea that if the kids are motivated they'll probably find a way to do it," she said.

Gohagon is working Petroski and other teachers to develop a "global coding challenge," which she said will bring together schools from across the country and beyond to solve real world problems using coding.

"I need to tell you young people how inspired I am, let alone by the work that you're doing but the confidence you showed here tonight is extraordinary," said board member Norm Hicks. "You guys are absolutely terrific."