MEDFIELD — Superintendent Jeffrey Marsden and Principal Nat Vaughn are pleased to announce that Blake Middle School students recently participated in several activities to learn about computer science and coding.
Computer Science Week, better known as the Hour of Code, is celebrated around the world during the week of computer scientist Grace Hopper’s birthday. It is an annual call to action to inspire K-12 students to learn computer science, advocate for equity, and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers and partners in the field.
This year Blake celebrated Computer Science Week from Monday, Dec. 4 through Sunday, Dec. 10.
Each morning of Computer Science Week began with a morning announcement from students highlighting a hero who has made an impact on the computer science industry.
Throughout the week students participated in several coding and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) activities. Activities covered a range of topics from pixel art and generative art, chatbots and artificial intelligence, to NASA solar system and sonification lessons, to learning about Morse Code as part of the history of cybersecurity.
Some of the activities students participated in were unplugged and involved no coding, and other activities were online, self-paced tutorials for students to complete.
For the past several years, Computer Science Week at Blake has been led by members of the math department, who encourage full participation by bringing classes to the Library Media Center for a variety of plugged and unplugged activities. Last year, Blake expanded Computer Science activities into each academic content area to show how computer science can be applied and its impact.
“I would like to extend my gratitude to our Blake Middle School Math Department,” said Principal Vaughn. “This year’s Computer Science Week was a great success. We look forward to continuing our work to ensure computer science is accessible, equitable and fun for all students.”
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