Hemet Unified School District is committed to providing every tool necessary to our students to ensure they are successful in the 21st century. In order to do this, our educators must be proficient in various technology programs and devices. Hemet Unified has created a “Tech Know” program for teachers to educate them on the proper use of technology programs to engage students in the classroom.
Recently, many of our “Tech-Know” teachers, along with their classes, participated in the Hour of Code. This is a one-hour introduction to computer science and programing. Tens of millions of students in over 180 countries participated in this global movement provided by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org.
Various events were held around the District to introduce students and parents to computer science and programing. A Parent Night was held at Harmony Elementary where over 60 parents and students worked together to explore technology and participate in coding projects. Staff received positive feedback from the families and were happy to see how excited the students were to learn about computer science. Teacher, Joseph Pollock, described the event as a huge success and was very pleased the number of participants tripled compared to the prior year.
At Little Lake Elementary, the class of Jason Ax spent a few hours exploring coding. When the fourth graders were asked the question, “What did you like about coding?” their responses ranged from the prospect of making their own games, the variety of things you can create, and how much fun it was to try something new and interesting to them.
“By introducing coding skills to kids early on in their education, we hope to encourage them to explore sequential thinking and reasoning. One day, students may take advantage of these new-found skills by applying for the hundreds of thousands of job opportunities that are currently unfilled in the field of computer science," explains Technology Coach, Michael Canon, who thoroughly enjoyed leading two classrooms at Winchester Elementary through the Hour of Code.
Our hope is to encourage more classrooms to participate in the Hour of Code which can be accessed throughout the year. You can learn more by visiting the Hour of Code’s website.