Students show off their coding skills during National Computer Science Education Week
Detroit Public Schools Community District students coded, hacked and danced their way through National Computer Science Education Week!
The competitive and educational week kicked off with a hackathon at Renaissance High School, hosted by DPSCD and TEALS (Technology, Education and Literacy in Schools). High school students from Renaissance, Frederick Douglass and Henry Ford formed groups where students had two hours to build and code machines that emulate a human hand. Students worked collaboratively to construct the robotic hand and put their skills to the test. A group of Renaissance seniors took home the gold and three individual winners were awarded for their leadership and efforts – the students received an Arduino microcontroller, which will aid them in their continued learning about STEM education!
The week continued with an interactive event with young women from Detroit International Academy. The Code Like a Girl STEM event gave the girls the opportunity to dance it out using code que cards. Once they saw a specific card, they knew the dance move that correlated. The students learned that this is exactly how a computer learns to do what it does; it follows codes. The day culminated with an Hour of Code dance party where the girls coded their dance moves using programmed lights on a circuit playground.
By the end of the week, DPSCD was in full computer science mode! TEALS and Microsoft sponsored a district-wide Hour of Code event, which was available remotely through the classroom. Each participating class had a volunteer who spoke to their class about STEM, coding, and helped them with the day’s activity. In addition, our 4th and 5th grade classes from Hutchinson won a trip to the Microsoft Headquarters in Downtown Detroit to participate in the Hour of Code activity with STEM experts.
The introduction of computer science in all of our schools increases access to more careers and opportunities students never imagined. Thank you to TEALS and Microsoft for helping #StudentsRise.