Eighteen high school students from across Shelby County Schools are taking advantage of a new computer programming course that is being offered as an elective this year.  The new online course was designed by two former Stanford computer science teaching assistants. Their company, CodeHS, is dedicated to getting high school students to give computer programming a try.

“This isn’t your typical programming class,” said Susan Poling, the district’s technology coordinator. “The fact that it was designed by programmers who once taught the course is exciting. They know what students who are new to programming struggle with and have designed the course accordingly. In a field that changes quickly, they also have the real world experience to be sure that the course content stays relevant.”

Although the lessons and programming assignments are done online, two Shelby County staff members will guide students through the course and grade their work.

“We liked this approach because it lets us be part of the whole process and gives students someone they can reach out to as they work through the class,” said Mrs. Poling.

Two members of the technology staff have paired up to administer the course. Faith Pack is a former high school math teacher who now provides software support and training at the district level. Jason McGinnis is a network administrator who helps develop applications that the district utilizes. Both completed the CodeHS teacher training this summer and are currently making the rounds to meet all of the students in person.

“Faith and Jason’s skills along with the online course are going to provide our students with a lot of expertise and support.” said, Mrs. Poling.  “If our folks run into situations where they need support in grading student work or helping them get their code working correctly, they can turn to the CodeHS tutors who are real world programmers.”

The 18 Shelby County Schools students come from Chelsea High, Montevallo High, and Vincent High. The students will take the course during the normal school day and will be equipped with Chromebook laptops.  The course title is Fundamentals of Computer Science using Java Script.

“We’ve quickly discovered that a few of our students have already been programming, but for most it’s their first exposure to computer science,” said Mrs. Pack.

Students can move through the course at their own pace. CodeHS provides additional programming challenges for those who move through the course quickly so they continue to build their skills throughout the year.

Johathan Lewis, a Chelsea High student, says he is taking the course in order to learn how to code.

“I want to use this as a foundation to learn different languages in the future,” Lewis said.

Not only is computer programming one of the top jobs in the nation, but at many colleges it also counts as a foreign language.

“We have been trying to make a high quality programming course available to our students for several years. But between tight budgets and limited student interest, it took a while to find the right solution. It was important to us that the course be available to students across the county, not just at one school. That meant we had to look for an online course. Finding the right one was the challenge, but I think we’ve done that. We can’t wait to see what our students create by the end of the year with their new programming skills,” said Mrs. Poling.