What Code Will Lawrence Intermediate School Students Break?

December 9-15 is Computer Science Education Week.  Within the week Lawrence Intermediate School (LIS) 5th and 6th graders will get their first taste of coding by participating in a national hour of computer science instruction called the Hour of Code.  The goal is to get students to think, create, and have a blast—all while learning some computer programming.

Facilitated by Karen Rubinstein, LIS technology and robotics teacher, and the 6th grade Tech Squad Leadership Club, LIS students along with 10 million other “students” of all ages worldwide, will be introduced to coding with the hope their interest will be sparked for the future.

Most of us have a vague idea that a knowledge of computer science will help you get a job, but the actual numbers are pretty shocking:

• New programming jobs are growing 3 times faster than the number of students entering the field.
• More than 50 percent of all math and science jobs are for computer scientists.
• Computer science jobs are the highest-paying jobs for new graduates.

Software powers our economy, but less than 2.4 percent of college students graduate with a CS degree.  That means there aren’t going to be enough graduates to fill the jobs. 

Fortunately, there’s something we can do about it and activities such as the Hour of Code are a good start.

-Submitted by Lawrence Township School District