Technology Camp Comes To Isaac E. Young MS Classrooms

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — It didn’t take long for the sixth-graders at Isaac E. Young Middle School to begin programming patterns of lights and sounds when they started a technology camp last week. “When you finish your artwork, you press ‘upload’ and it shows up on the LED panel,” said Isabel Ayala, a member of a team called the MERR Gang with Ashlyn Cohen and Diana Oliveros.

All 400 sixth graders learned coding from the nationwide company iD Tech, which brought its instructors in with technology kits from littleBits. The company offers summer computer camps, but recently, they were offered in four schools across the country. The others were in Chicago and California, according to a spokesman for the district.

The lessons offered the school’s first-year students invaluable STEM experience.

“We are so excited that our students have been gifted this opportunity,” said Assistant Principal Tawanda Robinson. “Programs such as iD Tech serve as pathways for learning. This offers students authentic hands-on experiences and provides a glimpse into the vast and complicated world that is technology. The sixth-graders received full-day intensive training in coding, simple game development and robotics. For some students, this will open the door to limitless possibilities.”

The lessons didn’t stop with the end of the in-school tech camp. iD Tech will be giving six IEYMS students scholarships for a full week of camp at any of the 150 locations across the country. The company will also donate 10 littleBits Coding Kits.

When students worked with sound, they started off with a two-tone siren, but quickly expanded to longer strings of notes.

“I like how we can experiment with it and make it more abstract,” said Oliveras of the MERR Gang. “You can use your imagination.”

“It’s really fun to play with because you get to focus on the music,” said student Belen Salomon of the Warrior Wolves.

Teachers said the students were enjoying it from the start.

“They like the behind-the-scenes aspect, seeing how things work,” said history teacher Patrick DiPrimo.

Photo caption: From left, Isaac E. Young Middle School sixth-graders Ashlyn Cohen, Isabel Ayala and Diana Oliveros. Photo caption: City School District of New Rochelle.