Students in Verne W. Critz and Brookhaven Elementary Schools celebrated Computer Science Week by participating in an "Hour of Code" in their computer classes this past month.

The "Hour of Code" is a global movement that reaches out to millions of students across 180+ countries. The program features a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to explain code and show that anybody can learn the basics. Code.org provides teacher training and student lessons in one hour tutorials in over 40 languages enabling anyone from ages 4 to 104 to learn code.

The course features video lectures by Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg as well as familiar characters from popular games such as Angry Birds. Using a blended learning model children learn basic computer programming. Students practice skills related to logic and problem solving through computer based learning and puzzles as well as "unplugged" activities.

The "Hour of Code" gave our students an opportunity to create games, apps and programs while providing foundational skills in computer science and technology.