School is all about learning new things. Skills. Life lessons. Tidbits of knowledge about the world that, put together, can pave a path towards a successful future.

Recently, all of the students at Saint Philip the Apostle School were given the opportunity to learn coding in computer class. As you may or may not know, coding is a rapidly developing field of study. Software developers, film editors, and app and web designers all have one thing in common regarding their careers: their use and knowledge of code.

Coding and the St. Philip regular curriculum were joined as one last week, as our older falcons helped their younger eyas (little falcons) during the “Hour of Code,” which allowed for more social interaction between the different grade levels. Seventh and eighth graders became teachers for the day, as they helped kinder, first, and second graders learn the basics of computer programming, while third through sixth graders did their Hours of Code independently. Each member of the St. Philip student body got to complete their own Hour of Code.

Encouraged by President Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and co-creator of Twitter, and Bill Gates, Microsoft creator and richest person alive, the “Hour of Code” challenges participants to complete just that:an hour of code. Working with CSED Week (link below), anyone can go on and immediately do one hour of coding. The website shows people the basics of coding, through involved yet easy-to-play games. No sign-up, wait list, or payment is required. The objective is to get students interested in coding, and possibly to branch off into technology and software related careers.

Randomly selected, several schools whose students competed Hours of Code will receive prizes. A set of laptops will be given to fifty-one different schools. Fifty classes will also be chosen for a group chat with either Bill Gates, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Susan Wojcicki of Google, or Gabe Newell of Valve.

Maybe St. Philip will get a set of laptops, or better yet, a video chat with Bill Gates. Who knows? We might even have a computer genius in our midst, whose love for coding was inspired by the Hour of Code!

Do your own Hour of Code! Click on the link:

http://csedweek.org/

Click on the like to watch the Hour of Code video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC5FbmsH4fw