16 NH Schools Will Compete In Coding Competition

CONCORD, NH — Sixteen schools have made the finals of New Hampshire’s first virtual coding competition co-sponsored by the New Hampshire Department of Education, Intelitek, and Oracle Academy, according to officials. The students – ranging in different grades and parts of the state – will compete at Pinkerton Academy in Derry at 4 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2017, in the school’s auditorium. The competition, according to officials, is “an exciting online coding competition using a cloud-based simulation platform featuring a virtual, 3D-animated robot.”

Schools participating include the Academy for Science and Design in Nashua, Londonderry High School, and the North Hampton School, as well as Chester Academy, the Crescent Lake School in Wolfeboro, the David R. Cawley Middle School in Hooksett, the Errol Consolidated School, Farmington High School, Keene Middle School, the Lyme School, the Pine Tree Elementary School in Center Conway, Pinkerton Academy in Derry, the St. Thomas Aquinas School in Derry, the Tuftonboro Central School, the Waterville Elementary School, and the Weare Middle School.

“Promoting STEM is a top priority for New Hampshire Schools,” said Frank Edelblut, the commissioner of the NH DOE. “We want to make sure our graduates have not only marketable skills, but skills that will bring jobs to New Hampshire. Coding is at the top of that list.”

Each school will send two teams to the live final where the students will program virtual robots using the CoderZ platform. The robots will perform tasks and the students will win points by completing various challenges while producing quality code.

“This is the first virtual coding competition in the region, and it has been very successful,” said Ido Yerushalmi, CEO of Intelitek. “It was great to do this in our own state, and as we roll this concept out across the country and internationally, New Hampshire will be the benchmark. It’s a great way to motivate students to get exposed to STEM. We expect to see state, regional and national finals in the very near future.”

David Benedetto, the STEM Director for the NH DOE, added that participation in the finals was fantastic.

“We had over 100 teachers and more than 2,600 students participating in class and at home over the last six weeks,” he said. “We can’t wait to see them all at the finals.”

For more information about the program, visit the NH DOE’s website.

Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images.