Community and Media Relations
Page Navigation
BISD Celebrates Computer Science Education Week
Throughout Beaumont ISD students are being exposed to computer science applications and basic coding skills. The week of December 4-8 was no exception. Students on several campuses took time to celebrate the “Hour of Code,” an international event that takes place in over 180 countries during Computer Science Education Week.
Caldwood Elementary has taken coding to another level by starting the Caldwood Cub Coders Club. “They are learning about program bugs and debugging,” explained Caldwood technology liaison Sherri Ramirez. “Students are acquiring important logical, mathematical and problem-solving skills,” Ramirez said the club goes beyond simply learning about coding. It empowers students to believe that they are capable to do whatever comes to their imagination; to be intrinsically motivated, to want to stay in school and have ambitions beyond graduation. “There will be many well-paying jobs available in the area of coding for this generation requiring associate degrees on up to doctorates,” said Ramirez. “I want our kids to visualize themselves somewhere on that continuum.”
At Fehl-Price Computer Technology teacher Elaine Schumacher stresses the importance of learning basic coding skills due to the fact that there is a great need in American industry for those who have these skills. “I tell my students all the time that coding and computer skills can lead them to exciting and high paying careers,” said Schumacher. “We have seen that our country is severely lacking in men and women to fill jobs in coding and computer science; an industry that doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.” In an effort to make coding fun and attractive to students, Schumacher uses Dash robots to teach her students basic coding skills.
Another way students are getting exposed to computer science and coding skills is through the BISD STEM Lab set to open in the Spring semester. Currently, STEM teacher Joy Schwartz travels around to campuses bringing students activities such as coding robots and other activities. Schwartz recently won a grant to bring coding drones to campuses to help encourage students to enjoy computer science. “I’m excited to be part of the new BISD STEM Lab and I can’t wait for it to open so that students throughout the district will be able to visit and experience all the neat things that can be done with science, technology, engineering and math,” said Schwartz.