Students and Parents Participate in ‘Hour of Code’ at St. Margaret’s

The Hour of Code is a campaign to broaden global participation in computer science, held during Computer Science Education Week.
St. Margaret’s students were among the thousands around the world who participated in the fourth annual Hour of Code, a campaign to broaden global participation in computer science, held during Computer Science Education Week.

St. Margaret’s already embeds computer science and technology within its curriculum, but the Hour of Code event was a way to bring a brighter spotlight to computer sciences on campus.

The ICE Lab was buzzing all week as students in kindergarten through grade 5 participated in special activities around Hour of Code. Kindergarten students used the Code Studio Course 1 to learn the basics of drag-and-drop programming to solve simple programming challenges. Grade 1 students used Tynker to play Candy Quest, a game which required them to use drag-and-drop blocks to program their character to retrieve candy. Grades 2 and 3 participated in activities found on code.org, while grade 4 used Rainforest Code to start creating their own games using Scratch. Grade 5 worked on skills like coding their own sports game or designing holiday cards using Scratch.

Middle School students also participated, with Grade 7 students programming their own video games that incorporated concepts studied in science class. The end result was a program that required players to help a Christmas tree grow to full height by clicking on the needed factors required for successful photosynthesis.

In addition, Lower School teachers also participated in the Hour of Code. 

“It was great to have classroom teachers partake in coding so that they understand what our students are able to do,” said Lynn Ozonian, director of technology and innovation at St. Margaret’s.

A parent hour was also on the schedule. About a dozen St. Margaret’s parents came to campus on Thursday to take part in a session where they learned about why and how coding is taught at St. Margaret’s and tried an activity for themselves.

To learn more about computer science at St. Margaret’s, visit the Computer Science and Engineering page.
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St. Margaret’s Episcopal School

31641 La Novia Avenue
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
(949) 661-0108
 
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An Independent Preschool Through Grade 12 College-Preparatory Day School in Orange County California

Non-Discrimination Policy
St. Margaret's Episcopal School does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, sexual orientation or national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational, admission, financial aid, hiring and athletic policies or in other school-administered programs.