Getting educators bought into the importance of future-ready skills for their students is a no-brainer. They already know it’s important to make sure their students are equipped with STEM skills that benefit them now and in the future, but making the jump to how to do so in their classrooms with the resources they have on hand is much easier said than done.
The Youth Coding League set out to bulldoze those obstacles to make coding skills for middle and junior high students attainable for teachers and schools. This extracurricular program empowers teachers with no coding experience or the time to research and develop a curriculum, to bring a project-based learning computer science program to their students.
The Youth Coding League is a fully packaged program that teaches kids how to code, makes learning computer science concepts fun and engaging with weekly stats during the regular season, and a bracket-style postseason competition with big prizes on the line. Coders compete as a team and have a blast while they’re learning how to problem-solve and troubleshoot, how to think computationally, and about the building blocks of computer science.
During the regular season, coders are decked out in team gear (jerseys and hats), work through a progressive curriculum, and create weekly projects that are scored at YouthCodingLeague.com, where they can see how they stack up against other coders in the league, both individually and as part of a team. The postseason groups the coders up to showcase their skills in a project that’s competitive in virtual bracket-style competitions in different categories like Technical Merit and Community Favorite. Big prizes are shipped out to winning groups at schools across the country.
“We want these coders to feel just as valued by their school community as the head cheerleader and varsity athletes feel,” said Youth Coding League Director Stacy Dohogne Lane. “Instilling these STEM skills in kids who need them the most is our goal, but we’re always amazed to see other benefits to participation in the Youth Coding League — our program sees an equitable split in boys and girls, which is important when the industry currently trends more towards males, and we see kids receiving positive recognition from their school community, often for the first time.”
Edited by Maryssa Gordon, Senior Editor, Price of Business Digital Network
