Throughout the month of December, students across the Sachem Central School District have been exploring computer science through participation in a diverse collection of coding activities offered by the worldwide Hour of Code initiative.

For elementary school students, Hour of Code acts as an introductory experience to coding in which students become familiar with basic computer science terminology and explore the prevalence of code in everyday life. Students learned how algorithms act as a series of steps to complete a task by participating in an activity that outlined each exact step needed to brush their teeth. At Lynwood Avenue Elementary School, the concept of algorithms were reinforced for kindergarten students as they played code hopscotch, following the instructions of labeled floor squares to reach the end of the path. Students around the district also utilized laptops to access additional block-coding activities on the Scratch coding website and HourofCode.com. 

Students at Sachem high schools also used Scratch coding to program interactive stories with block coding on a more intricate level. Choosing from the numerous commands available, students creatively weaved together a custom animated story. As part of the coding activities, students learned about the countless computer science career opportunities available to them in a variety of industries.