Sudbury High Schoolers Launch Program To Teach Younger Students About Coding

SUDBURY, MA — After discovering that younger students were interested in coding but lacked the resources, one high school student in Sudbury helped find a way to teach them.

Leo Polemeropoulos, a junior at Lincoln-Sudbury High School, co-founded a nonprofit called Programmatics, an after-school computer club for middle school students that provides low-cost coding education. He and his classmates started the nonprofit after noticing that students at Curtis Middle School were interested in coding but lacked access to an affordable, comprehensive program.

"I wanted to start Programmatics in middle school when I noticed that many kids had an interest in coding and building machines, but there were no classes offered that taught the material in depth," Polemeropoulos told Patch. "Many of the alternatives were either too expensive or far away to attend consistently. I wanted to create something inexpensive, accessible, and that focused on hands-on learning."

Since launching in 2023, the group has worked with more than 70 students and educators involved in Programmatics. Right now, 25 students are enrolled in the program, and it's even expanded to Stow Middle School.

Programmatics is run by Polemeropoulos, and his classmates Kushal Patil and Alex Zipes, who help run lessons and manage the program. The same program over in Stow is led by two students from Stow High School.

Polemeropoulos told Patch that the goal is to make technical education more accessible and to introduce students to problem-solving and STEM skills at an early age. Students in the program learn the basics of Scratch and Python, and then move on to hands-on work with Raspberry Pi mini-computers.

"Starting Programmatics has been incredibly meaningful to me because it's allowed me to create a real impact in my community," Polemeropoulos told Patch. "One of the most meaningful moments for me is watching students present Scratch projects they spent weeks building and seeing their genuine excitement and confidence. Seeing that passion in coding makes me feel like I've really made a difference in my community."

The program runs for most of the school year with weekly hour-long sessions. The curriculum is designed to be flexible, so it can be adapted based on student interest and experience, Polemeropoulos told Patch.

It officially ends in a final project where students build and program their own machines.

Programmatics is hoping to raise funds for the future. The group plans to fundraise with the high school's Hackathon Club to purchase individual Raspberry Pis for students. It also plans to partner with the Goodnow Library to host a week-long summer coding class.

"Once I graduate, the plan is to keep the program running by transitioning leadership to younger students who have already been involved as volunteers," Polemeropoulos told Patch. He said he also plans to return during college breaks to continue supporting the program.

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