Words: Miranda Mason

On Tuesday, Dec. 9, Centennial will be participating in the Hour of Code, something every Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) school will be doing next week, according to the HCPSS Facebook page.

The Hour of Code, running from Dec. 8-12, is a week-long initiative to get students interested in computer science and programming. HCPSS is working with Code.org, which is a non-profit that works towards increasing student participation in computer science.

Centennial is scheduled to run Hour of Code activities on Monday, and the activities vary from hands-on games involving using cups to illustrate binary to coding games featuring Anna and Elsa from Disney’s Frozen. According to CHS technology teacher Daleth Sendin, more advanced students could also be learning computer programming languages, such as Java.

Apple stores across the country are also participating in Hour of Code by offering computer programming workshops. The Apple store at the Mall in Columbia is offering two Introduction to Programming for Kids workshops on Thursday, Dec. 11. Interested students can sign up to attend one of the workshops on the Apple website for the Columbia location.