District 102 Schools Spotlight Computer Science in Hour of Code

Students at La Grange School District 102 once again took part in the Hour of Code, a global initiative designed to introduce tens of millions of students to one hour of computer science and computer programming during Computer Science Education Week (December 4-10). Computer Science Education Week is held annually in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906). The largest learning event in history, the Hour of Code reaches over 100 million students in over 180 countries with activities available in over 45 languages.

The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code, to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with one-hour coding activities but expanding to all sorts of community efforts. This grassroots campaign is supported by over 400 partners and 200,000 educators worldwide. The Hour of Code is driven by the Hour of Code and Computer Science Education Week Advisory and Review Committees as well as an unprecedented coalition of partners that have come together to support the Hour of Code — including Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the College Board. According to Code.org, learning computer science helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. By starting early, students will have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path.

Photo Caption 1: Second graders in Jennifer Papp’s class at Forest Road School in La Grange Park loved working on computer programming during the Hour of Code.

Photo Caption 2: Fourth graders in Molly Knott’s classroom at Congress Park School in Brookfield used Code.org during the Hour of Code, the featured event during Computer Science Education Week. Left to right are Jack Walsh, Addison Wolff-Kryfka and Erik Lopez-Rios.

Photo Caption 3: Cassidy Selig in Lynn Jarrick's fourth grade class at Forest Road School used a Lego WeDo 2.0 set to design a recycling truck. She then programmed her truck using block coding to sort and dump different sized recyclables.