Dec. 12, 2018

Amsterdam High School students in the science honor society participated in the Hour of Code™ with McNulty Academy fourth-graders last Wednesday as part of Computer Science Education Week.

“We like to set a good example for the younger kids,” said Kelly Kilgallen, a senior and president of the science honor society. “We want to show them that computer science and coding can really matter.”

Students in Mrs. Jen Marshall, Mrs. Jennifer Towne and Mr. Patrick Williams’ classes at McNulty learned the basics of coding with help from 13 high schoolers.

“The high school students can be role models to our fourth-graders,” said Mrs. Marshall. “My students are really interested in science so it’s great they can work with older students interested in the same subject.”

Mrs. Sharon Trova, AHS chemistry teacher and adviser of the science honor society, organizes the collaboration, ensuring the high schoolers know the coding program prior to meeting with the fourth-graders.

“They look forward to seeing the kids,” said Mrs. Trova. “They like to reflect on what the students are doing now and how different it is from when they were in fourth grade.”

The ‘Hour of Code™’ is a nationwide initiative by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org to introduce millions of students to one hour of computer science and computer programming.

For additional photos, visit the district’s Facebook page.