Students at Springer Elementary are participating in “Hour of Code” week to provide skills necessary in preparation for STEM fields of the future.

This valuable skill may lead toward a new app design, video game design, 3D printing, website design, circuitry, robotics for the medical field, factory assembly or simulation training.

These digital natives are paving the way to building a brighter future!

Joshua Villarreal, son of Dr. JJ and Kim Villarreal and a senior at Rockwall High School, earned the highest possible ACT composite score of 36. On average, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of students who take the ACT earn a top score. In the U.S. high school graduating class of 2016, only 2,235 out of nearly 2.1 million graduates who took the ACT earned a composite score of 36.

The ACT consists of tests in English, mathematics, reading and science, each scored on a scale of 1–36. A student’s composite score is the average of the four test scores.

In a letter to the student recognizing this exceptional achievement, ACT Chief Executive Officer Marten Roorda stated, “Your achievement on the ACT is significant and rare. While test scores are just one of multiple criteria that most colleges consider when making admission decisions, your exceptional ACT composite score should prove helpful as you pursue your education and career goals.”

ACT test scores are accepted by all major U.S. colleges. Exceptional scores of 36 provide colleges with evidence of student readiness for the academic rigors that lie ahead.

Stevenson Elementary students have been participating in Hour of Code for several years and have had varying levels of experience with coding in their classrooms and after school clubs.

Third grade students learned about how important Computer Science is for future careers and explored how you can blend the world of computer programming with any area you are interested in, such as zoos, hospitals, building and sports.

Students in sixth grade each explored a coding site and wrote a review for their classmates.  Once they presented the various sites available, students participated in Hour of Code where they learned to code at levels that challenged their coding experience level.  They are learning Scratch, Java Script, Alice, Python and HTML coding languages.

Students in the after-school Coding Club are earning a Passport to Computer Science in an eight-week course designed to blend the worlds of Scratch Coding and Storytelling.

This week, Jones Elementary is participating in Hour of Code.  Dr. Kay Orr has emphasized the importance of exposing students to 21^st century skills such as coding, and with her facilitating, this is the second year that Jones is participating.

The Hour of Code webpage explains that “The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify “code,” to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science […]  Every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science. It helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. By starting early, students will have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path.”

During computer time, students are working through coding lessons that help them experience the basics of programming.  During Maker Monday in the library, students are also participating in a number of coding activities that include using a BeeBot and a Sphero Ollie. By the end of the week, hundreds of hours of coding will be completed and students will be excited to see what’s next!