Students throughout the district celebrate 'Hour of Code' week.

Niko Marsillo and Max Soltowski had perfect intentions. Niko’s zombies were programmed to be slow, of course, because zombies are slow. Max’s police officers were programmed to be fast, of course, because they were in pursuit.

Both students are sixth graders at Blue Mountain Middle School who have just completed a coding project in their Art and Design class. Students were tasked with designing their own video game on Scratch, a visual programming tool. Niko’s character attempted to avoid being captured by zombies. Max’s character had trespassed onto a soccer field and was trying to escape capture.

Throughout Hendrick Hudson this week, students like Niko and Max participated in fun programming activities to celebrate the “Hour of

Code,” which included classroom challenges for all grade levels. The worldwide, grassroots effort organized by Code.org was established to mark Computer Science Education Week, which fell on Dec. 4-10 this year.

“It’s a good experience and very entertaining,” Max said of coding. “That is definitely my favorite mod.”

“I get to do something I like,” added Niko, “but I still get to have fun with my friends.”

It wasn’t just students with previous experience coding like Max and Niko who tackled projects during the Hour of Code. In fact, the event is designed to “demystify coding” for students of all ages and levels of experience.

At Furnace Woods Elementary School this week, STEAM students used another coding tool, Kodable, for programming activities. They were awarded a certificate when they completed their Hour of Code.

Students throughout the district learned the processes involved in coding that aid in problem-solving. The sixth graders at BMMS were taught how to create a flow chart with positive and negative outcomes, so they’d know what they needed to code in order for their video game to achieve certain goals when a character “won” or “lost.” They also tapped into artificial intelligence software to help create their characters.

“I looked at it like puzzle solving,” said Robert Budde, another sixth grader in the class.

Some of the district’s younger students were guided by the district’s Tech Facilitators, Sean Rowan and Tara Finneran, during their Hour of Code. But the goal wasn’t just for students to learn how to write programming.

“Learning to code is a great way to instill problem-solving skills in our students, even as young as kindergarten level,” said Vineetha Joy, the district’s Executive Director of Technology & Innovation. "It teaches your brain to think sequentially and logically about a problem, so you can break it down into smaller parts to solve it. This skill is essential in every aspect of our life, not just in computer programming."