Monday, December 6, is the start of Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) and schools throughout Gwinnett County are marking the occasion by hosting a number of events related to computer science. CSEdWeek is an annual call to action to inspire students from Kindergarten to 12th grade to learn computer science, advocate for equity, and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers, and partners to the field. This year’s theme, Computer Science Everywhere, highlights the impact of computer science and the relationship that computer science has to different subjects, industries, career paths, and our everyday lives.
Computer science is pervasive in the world around us, but computer science jobs are not restricted to technology companies alone,” says Sallie Holloway, GCPS’ director of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Computer Science. “While computer science will be in the spotlight this week, know that our students have many opportunities to experience computer science throughout the school year—from computer science “specials” and clubs to robotics teams and computer science-related courses and pathways. Through a multi-year initiative called Computer Science 4 All (CS4ALL), GCPS is working to increase access to high-quality and inclusive computer science learning experiences where all students belong and learn the skills needed for the future.”
Please see the following list of school-based events during the week.
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School: |
Date & Time: |
Event/Activity: |
Description: |
|
Patrick ES |
Thurs., Dec. 2, 4 p.m. |
FIRST LEGO League Showcase |
FIRST LEGO League competition robotics teams will showcase their projects to parents and teachers. |
|
Jones MS |
Wed., Dec. 8, 8:50 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. |
AI Challenges |
All students will participate in CS challenges to deepen their understanding of CS and AI in the world around them. |
|
Harmony ES |
Tues., Dec. 7, 3:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. |
Hour of Code |
Families can register students to participate in an after-school Hour of Code to challenge their coding skills. Students will collaborate with a partner from a different grade level to complete the activities. |
|
Jones MS |
Wed., Dec. 8, 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. |
Drone Racing Team |
Students from the Drone Racing Team will prepare for competition in programming and flying drones. |
|
Paul Duke STEM HS |
Fri., Dec. 10, 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
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State CyberPatriot Competition |
CyberPatriot students will compete in the State CyberPatriot competition. The school has nine teams competing with more than 40 competitors. They will be working on setting up security for several different operating systems, completing packet tracer activities, and taking a CISCO networking quiz. The team has six hours to complete all of the tasks working collaboratively as a team on the virtual machines and gaining points for their work. The top teams for each level will go on to compete in the semi-finals to be able to participate at Nationals. |
|
Patrick ES |
Fri., Dec. 10 |
Drop Everything and Code |
All students will participate in a variety of coding challenges to strengthen their CS skills. Students also will learn the importance of CS and explore different key people who have contributed to CS. |
|
South Gwinnett HS |
Sat., Dec. 11, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. |
Cluster Code Jam |
Students from the South Gwinnett Cluster will participate in fun computer science activities. The goal is to expose students to new and fun CS activities while strengthening relationships among the Cluster’s schools in an effort to support the GCPS Computer Science 4 All initiative. During the Code Jam event, students in grades 3-5 will have the opportunity to interact with blocky code using activities from Hour of Code on the Code.org website. Middle school students will interact with and code Sphero Robots. And, high schoolers will learn about and interact with Arduino single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller building kits. |