65,000 Local Children Crack the Code during the Largest Education Event in History: Hour of Code

More than 65,000 students from 150 Chicagoland schools will participate in Computer Science Education Week’s Hour of Code, including North Park Elementary School (NPES) on Chicago’s Northwest side.

The Hour of Code is a nationwide campaign to encourage 10 million students to attempt one hour of computer science during Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 9-13. The campaign gives students a chance to learn basic programming activities on browsers, tablets, smartphones and more.

On Tuesday, Dec. 10 NPES middle school students will participate in their own hour of code and on Thursday, Dec. 12 middle school students will facilitate the Hour of Code experience for pre-school and K-5th grade students.

Why is the Hour of Code important? Computer programming jobs are growing three times faster than students entering the field, but fewer schools teach computer science than 10 years ago. Ninety percent of K-12 schools in the United States do not teach it at all. Every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science. By learning computer science early students will have a foundation for success in any future career path. Just by entering your school qualifies for a chance to win a classroom set of laptops or a video chat with Bill Gates. One school in each state is chosen for a classroom set of laptops and 50 schools will win the video chat with Bill Gates.

To learn more, contact Kimberly Smith at smith@npeschool.org or by calling 773-327-3144.