By Sarah Savannah Griffin
THATCHER — Starting in December, Eastern Arizona College’s Business and Computer department will host “Coding for Kids – Hour of Code” in the EAC High Tech Center. The free sessions will be held on the evenings Dec. 5-8, and all-day Saturday, Dec. 9.
This year, EAC will join over 100 partners supporting the movement dedicated to teaching students how to write code. Anyone ages 7-18 are encouraged to sign up for one of the Hour of Code sessions, taught by Associate Professor Lydia Mata and EAC computer students.
“Computers are everywhere, changing every industry on the planet,” Mata said. “But fewer than half of all schools teach computer science. With the Hour of Code, the importance of computer science has been recognized on the homepages of Google, MSN, Yahoo, and Disney. Every Apple store in the world has hosted Hour of Code, and many celebrities have written their first line of code as part of the campaign. Our school can’t be more excited to join them.”
Each session will begin with a 15-minute introduction and Hour of Coding tutorials. Students older than 13 will work on iPads and will be provided tutorials for beginning, intermediate, and advanced coders; those younger will have tutorials that incorporate favorite characters from Disney’s Moana and Frozen, Angry Birds, Star Wars, and Minecraft. Tutorials are self-paced and interactive so students can see immediate results from their written code.
“From phones to cars to medicine, technology touches every part of our lives. If you can create technology, you can change the world,” said Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube.
Parents can register their students at https://eventmaster.eac.edu throughout the month of November. Please begin by signing up for only one session. If spaces remain, registration will be opened to allow students to sign up for multiple sessions. For more information contact Lydia Mata at Lydia.mata@eac.edu or (928) 428-8383.
