Computer Science Week is December 5-11, 2016. During this week, Code.org encourages everyone to try coding for at least one hour. CodeArt proposes to create a CodeArt Hour of Code! We will reach out to local schools and community centers and offer to lead an Hour of Code event for students at their locations. The CodeArt Hour of Code tutorial will teach students how to write code in JavaScript to generate a self-portrait. Whenever we do this lesson in our workshops, our students have a lot of fun with it and especially enjoy sharing their portraits with family and friends! (See images below.)

Our goal would be to hold at least one CodeArt Hour of Code event on each day of Computer Science week. The organization CodeArt is focused primarily on inspiring girls and underrepresented minorities to learn to code, especially those from underserved communities. Therefore, we plan to reach out to the Young Women’s Preparatory Academy, Pace Center for Girls, COPE North, and the Dorothy M. Wallace COPE Center to offer to lead Hour of Code events at their locations. We would also like to hold an Hour of Code event at the Venture Café on Thursday of “Hour of Code” week. If we have the capacity, other groups we would reach out to include Miami Children’s Museum, Lowe Art Museum, and local libraries.

In addition to leading the tutorial, CodeArt would provide each student with a folder that would include 1) certificate of completion, 2) fun and motivational stickers, 3) a 1-page Coding Tips Sheet that would include the main points covered in the lesson, 4) a list of online & local coding resources, and 5) a list of upcoming coding events for students wanting to continue learning more. The folder and all of the materials would be designed to be colorful and attractive. If resources allow, we would also give each host site inspirational posters and include smaller versions of those in each student folder.