Ranney School (Tinton Falls, NJ) students are once again participating in the Hour of Code Week, taking place December 7-13, in celebration of Computer Science Education Week. Students in all divisions, starting in Kindergarten, will be coding through Code.org and Scratch Jr. programs that incorporate fun, age-appropriate animation. In addition, high school students taking computer science courses (about 60) will spend all of December training in three different Hour of Code activities offered at Code.org, led by Junior Nicole Rasmussen who is focusing her Girl Scout Gold project on coding. On January 6, the students will push into high school advisories to lead an Hour of Code for all division students.

Says Nicole, “I’m ecstatic to bring the Hour of Code to all Upper School students who will enjoy its activities while learning the basics of coding, and to see the computer science students teach others a hobby they enjoy.”

In fact, so many students have grown passionate about coding that the Upper School started a new “Girls Who Code Club” this year. The club meets weekly to focus on learning the Python programming language through a series of activities on the Codesters website.

“We are also looking at bringing in guest speakers, women who work in technology, to explore ways that we can use our coding skills in the future,” says advisor Chiara Shah. By the end of the year, students will complete a programming project and will earn a certificate from Girls Who Code, testifying to their programming skills.