At the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, part of the curriculum in Ms. Josephson’s 8th grade STEM class is to provide opportunities for students to try innovative learning experiences in STEM. One opportunity is through the computer science module with Hello World programming.
Thanks to a grant from All Points North Foundation, all middle school students receive Hello World programming lessons each semester, increasing their skills through creating a project with different coding languages.
Ms. Josephson’s 8th-grade students are creating an app for the iPhone using Xcode, a developer-level software that teaches students how to code in Swift, an Apple coding language. They’ve learned how to storyboard the experience and create functions like swiping to progress through the app.
Josephson shared, “the program is very beneficial because it teaches students to be independent learners, which is true in the tech world.” Adding, “you have to learn a lot on your own through looking at previous code, testing your current code, and problem-solving on your own.”
Ann Richards School 8th grader Alexander likes to code because, “the program allows for a lot of freedom for creativity, and you get to make what you want.”
Coding is not always easy, 8th grader Vince said, “sometimes technology has a lot of glitches, but if you collaborate with friends, you can figure out the problem and fix it, even if you’re not working on the same project.”
The innovative opportunities Ann Richards School students experience are what All Points North Foundation wants to provide with their grant funding. Tony Moten, Director of Education Grant Partnerships at All Points North Foundation shared, “research shows investment in education innovation will prepare students to be successful in high school, college, and the working world.”
Through partnering with Hello World, the grant from All Points North Foundation provides the funds needed for the Ann Richards School Foundation to support innovative middle school curriculum enhancements at the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders.
The best part according to 8th grader Emma is that, “coding is very rewarding, you get to see what you made instantly and be proud to share your project with your peers.”
