This quote from Enda Kenny captures the essence of our “why” we offer coding classes at Brook Hill.

It also inspires us to consider the possibilities beyond the classroom as our students strengthen their ability to problem solve, create, and to think outside the box. Our middle school coding class has been doing that this semester as they work on programming projects and continue to develop their foundation of coding.

This past week students were wrapping up work on a personal project wherein each student was tasked with writing the code to create an animated and interactive scene. With a firm grasp on the basics, each student spent time thinking through their personal animation and then programming it out! As they wrapped up their projects and pushed for the finish line, students were collaborating and helping their classmates’ problem solve which in our opinion, is one of the best ways to strengthen a student’s ability to work on a team and push for creative courage.

Bill Gates once said, “Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains.” We have found this to be true as we watch our students consider new possibilities and apply persistence to whatever task is at hand. Learning to code looks like trial and error, like learning from what doesn’t work, and a lot like creating something from nothing. This kind of interactive learning is not only building resilience but is shaping how our students think.

“Every great developer you know got there by solving problems they were unqualified to solve until they actually did it.” This quote from Patrick McKenzie not only reinforces our desire to offer coding classes that prepare our students for work in our modern world, but it also reinforces our hope for them as people. We do want them to be excellent at coding, and to create solutions to complex problems. We also want them to thrive in a posture of possibility as students!