Story by Ainsley Hall
MARTINSBURG — Martinsburg North Middle School challenges students through the Hour of Code program, where students spend an hour learning how coding works.
Hour of Code is a global program meant to expose students to coding and teach them basic skills they can use in future careers. Schools all over the world use it as a fun way to teach students.
For many years, Martinsburg North Middle School has participated in Hour of Code on a smaller scale. Heather Sanders, a sixth-grade science teacher, has been using Hour of Code with her students for a few years. She receives emails suggesting specific activities and often tries them out.
However, this year Rachel Deavers, a technology integration specialist, heard about the program and suggested bringing it to all the students.
“It gets students exposed to coding, and there are so many different careers that use it,” Deavers said. “It teaches them good logic and problem-solving skills. The idea is to just give them an hour to learn and play around with the program. In today’s age, most of the students are consumers when it comes to technology, but this gives them the opportunity to make something themselves.”
Deavers gave all the students the opportunity to choose different online carnival games to code. Most students chose a whack-a-mole game, where they design the background, create the hammer and code the mole to pop out of the different holes. Meanwhile, Sanders challenged her students further by having them use an AI program.
“I really just let them explore,” Sanders said. “Initially, many of the students say, ‘I can’t do this, it’s too hard,’ but they quickly realize it’s not as hard as they thought.”
Deavers walked around to see the classrooms as they were working on the Hour of Code project and shared that every single classroom was fully engaged on the challenge. Each student who completed the project received an Hour of Code certificate from their homeroom teacher. They all also had access to try some of the other coding activities available through the website.
“It’s just such a great tool,” Sanders said. “I enjoy seeing all the engagement among the students.”
“We already know they love games,” Deavers added. “With this, they can do something they really enjoy while also doing something educational.”
In today’s technology-driven world, many jobs involve coding. Introducing students to coding through this program will get them more interested and excited to pursue a career in the future.