Elementary and middle school families engage in Keystone Oaks’ inaugural ‘Night of Code’

Dozens of Keystone Oaks elementary and middle school students and their families celebrated Computer Science Education Week by attending the District’s inaugural Night of Code event on Wednesday, December 5. Families filled four computer labs in the High School Math and Business Departments and spent over an hour completing Dance Party, Minecraft, and other coding activities provided by the international Hour of Code, which to-date has engaged more than 692 million people in completing 60 minutes of introductory coding activities.

“It was inspiring to see families working together to complete the lessons and create something together,” said High School Computer Science Teacher Kevin Gallagher. “Teachers and students from current Computer Science classes walked around, sharing their own experiences and helping out where needed – it was truly a great community event.”

In the past three years, Keystone Oaks has significantly increased students’ exposure to coding and computer science, starting in elementary school, where students participate in a weekly STEAM class and begin the CS Fundamentals classes. After finishing Fundamentals in the middle school, students are introduced to ALICE and take a Computational Thinking Course. At the High School, Keystone Oaks offers CS Discoveries, AP CS Principles, and AP CS A, where the District has seen enrollment more than double from year one to year two.

“With the number of computer science jobs available in the United States projected to grow twice as fast as other jobs, we are working diligently to expand the opportunities for students to learn coding and to take computer science classes,” Mr. Gallagher said. “Our hope is that students will learn the basics of coding and will apply those skills to the computer science careers that are in demand in nearly every industry.”