Can Washington State lead the nation in Hour of Code participation in 2015?
A message to the state’s students, parents, teachers, and superintendents from the Governor’s STEM Education Innovation Alliance, on which UW CSE’s Ed Lazowska serves, reads:
I’m contacting you with an exciting opportunity for Washington’s students – to lead the nation in Hour of Code participation. Students are guaranteed to have FUN while learning the building blocks of computer science.
WHY: Every time we check a text on our smartphone, play Minecraft or swipe our credit card at a store, we’re engaging with a product of computer science. In Washington State we’re going to have almost 50,000 unfilled jobs that require science, technology, education, and math skills by 2017, yet less than 10% of our schools currently offer computer science classes. In addition, computer science reinforces computational thinking, logical reasoning and creative problem solving – all 21st Century skillsets that set our kids up for opportunity and success.
HOW: We want to engage kids with computer science so they see themselves in these careers and learn exciting 21st Century skills. The Hour of Code makes that easy, engaging and fun.
HOW YOU CAN HELP: We’d like every student in Washington State to participate in the Hour of Code. Please help us reach that goal by encouraging your school, District, or community organization to spend one hour on the Hour of Code during Computer Science Education Week, December 7-13. Schools can register their participation here.
Join the hundreds of schools in Washington are already taking part! Join districts like Highline, Everett, Pasco, Bremerton, Spokane, South Kitsap and Pasco and many more that are promoting the Hour of Code across Washington state.
You don’t need any preparation or computer science experience to host an Hour of Code event. Students from kindergarten to high school learn from the Hour of Code. This year, the Hour of Code is partnering with Microsoft to feature a Minecraft lesson. The Hour of Code also features a fun lesson from Star Wars characters Princess Leia, Rey, R2D2, C3PO, and BB8.
Let’s make Washington State the leader in the Hour of Code in 2015. Get started here!
Let’s do it! And while you’re at it, kick off Computer Science Education Week at UW CSE’s Open House for K-12 students, 1:00-5:00 on Saturday December 5.