Meet Aria: A 5th-Grader in Bold Idea’s Coding Clubs

Aria is a 5th grader with a passion for creativity and a big imagination, and she’s channeling those qualities into learning computer coding. As a member of Bold Idea's Coding Club, she’s discovered that coding isn’t just about learning technical skills—it’s also a way for her to express her creativity and bring her unique ideas to life.

When asked if coding is fun, Aria didn’t hesitate: “Yes. I get to express my creativity.” For Aria, joining the Coding Club wasn’t just about learning something new; she was drawn to the idea of making her own games and learning coding languages like Python.

One of her favorite parts of the Coding Club experience is working with her mentors, Sean and Brian. “The mentors are really helpful with the coding courses and when I’m stuck. They’re also really nice,” Aria shared. Their support has helped her tackle new coding challenges with confidence.

Aria encourages other students to join Coding Club, especially if they’ve ever been curious about coding but haven’t tried it yet. “Coding Club is where they teach you to code your games in Scratch, and you learn coding languages,” she said. She even has practical advice for students, noting that coding skills could help them “make extra money when they grow up.”

One of Aria’s dream projects is to create a hotel game—a place with portals to other worlds and interdimensional characters. Her creativity knows no bounds, and her enthusiasm for coding allows her to explore and expand on these imaginative ideas.

As for her future, Aria has big dreams of becoming a paleontologist and a writer, with plans to code games on the side. Learning to code, she says, can help her “write some things in coding languages” as part of her work.

Aria’s journey is a testament to the power of coding to inspire and empower young minds, opening doors to creativity, future opportunities, and endless possibilities.

Meet Jeremiah: A 3rd Grader Discovering the World of Coding!

Jeremiah, an 8-year-old student from Charles Rice Elementary, is in his first year with Bold Idea’s Coding Club—and he’s loving every minute of it! Jeremiah’s favorite color is rainbow, and just like his colorful personality, he brings a bright enthusiasm to his coding projects.

When asked if computer coding is fun, Jeremiah gives a resounding "Yes!" He enjoys learning new ways to code and especially loves working with his friends on projects. “We learn different methods to make the Scratch cat,” Jeremiah says, referring to the popular programming tool, Scratch, where young coders can create their own interactive stories and games.

Jeremiah joined the Coding Club to expand his knowledge and learn how to bring his own ideas to life. He’s fascinated by the endless possibilities coding offers, like creating characters, art, and entire virtual worlds. “I want to make more characters, more art, more people, and more everything,” he shares with excitement.

Working with his mentor, Mayuri, is one of the highlights of Coding Club for Jeremiah. He appreciates her careful attention and guidance. “When I finish something, she checks it to make sure I didn’t miss something. She’s nice and helps everybody who needs help,” he says.

When it comes to encouraging other students to try coding, Jeremiah’s advice is simple: “When you learn more coding, it’s a good thing for everybody, and the mentors help us with anything we get stuck on.”

Although Jeremiah dreams of becoming a football coach when he grows up, he believes that the problem-solving skills and creativity he’s learning through coding will help him in whatever path he chooses. “When I learn something on Scratch, it could help me be a football coach or player,” he says confidently.

Jeremiah is just one of many young students discovering the joy and creativity of coding, thanks to programs like Bold Idea’s Coding Club. We’re excited to see all that he’ll continue to create!

Meet Pernell: Coding Is His Dream Job

Last semester, I met a remarkably bright student named Pernell Hale, a 4th-grader at Mark Twain School for the Talented and Gifted in southern Dallas. His enthusiasm for the Bold Idea courses was infectious, and his mentors commented on his ability to tackle any coding challenge with a determined mindset.

Before joining Bold Idea's after-school Coding Clubs program, Pernell had dabbled in coding using MIT’s Scratch, a visual programming language where students click and drag blocks of code. His goal was always to see how complex he could make his coding projects. 

With his past experience, Pernell’s mentors knew he could take on a bigger challenge: Website development, a first among his Coding Club peers. Recently, after months of hard work, he completed his first website project for a company of his own creation - the ‘Shoot for the Stars Travel Agency’. 

“When I started website coding it was hard and confusing, but the more I learned, the easier it got,” he said with confidence. “Working with the mentors is fun, and we can talk it out. It’s easy to go through, because they’ve taught me a lot.”

It’s clear that he’s proud of what he created and excited to amaze others with his new skills in HTML, CSS and Javascript coding. 

Pernell added that he would tell any other 4th grader that coding is really fun, and they should try it out. At just 10-years old, he’s on a set path to a future in computer science.

“Coding is my dream job!” he said. “I love it!”

Bold Idea exists for students like Pernell and his Coding Club peers, creating access to computer science and changing their beliefs about what they can accomplish.

Meet Elias - Future Computer Science Grad

Elias Land, a 10th-grade student W.H. Adamson High School in Dallas, has been part of Bold Idea’s Coding Clubs for five years. He also participates in the P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) at Adamson.

We connected with Elias recently to understand what keeps him coming back to Bold Idea every year and his plans after high school.

Bold Idea: You joined Bold Idea in the 6th grade and now as a 10th grader, you’re still learning to code with Bold Idea each week. What has kept you involved?
Elias: I have always had a passion for computer science. Being able to be a part of Bold Idea allowed me to expand my knowledge about coding, and I kept coming back to do so. I guess the thing that kept me involved was the fact that I was looking forward to creating my own big project (which I am working on this year).

How has Bold Idea changed your confidence and where do you see myself after high school?
Bold Idea has taught me a lot about computer science. Because of it, I believe in myself a lot more about how I can create anything I can think of using HTML, CSS, etc. After high school, I see myself taking on an internship that involves computer science. I want to go to college and study to get a master's degree in computer science (or even get a doctorate for it). I am also interested in criminology and criminal justice, so I want to see if I can get degrees in both and maybe in the future, get a job that incorporates both.

What have you learned or gained from participating in Bold Idea?
Over the past five years that I have been with Bold Idea, I have learned the basic and some advanced skills of HTML, CSS, and a little bit of JavaScript.

What are you looking forward to the most in Coding Club next year?
If I am not able to finish everything that I want to create on my big project, I would want to work on it next year. But overall, I would also love to learn more skills and become advanced in HTML, CSS, and other coding languages if Bold Idea has any to offer.

What is the big project you are working on?
The project I am working on is the creative project, which is a part of the Coding Club. Since I have completed the guided practices and other intro lessons, I am now able to create my own creative project of my own choice. This year I am creating a website that is all about our solar system. So far, it's a great, fun experience.

Are you taking any computer programming or IT courses right now?
In P-TECH, I am also a high school student and a college student, so I am taking classes in Adamson and with Dallas College. There are two different pathways, and I chose Software Development (the other pathway is Networking). This year, I am taking college courses, one each school semester. This semester, I have been taking a fine arts course which is Music Appreciation. Next school semester, I am taking an Introduction to Sociology course. It really won't be until my junior and senior year, I am able to actually go to the college and take courses that actually involve computer science. Junior year, I will be taking a course called "Programming Logic and Design" and "Java Programming". Senior year, I will be taking a course called "Advanced Java Programming" and "Project Management Software".

How can Bold Idea make your learning experience even better?
If there are any internships or events that I could speak at with team members from Bold Idea, I would love to participate in them if I do get the chance. I want to be more involved with this program and maybe someday, come back and be a mentor for incoming students.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?
All I want to say is that being in Bold Idea was probably the best decision I've ever made. I have learned a lot from this program and I am grateful for everyone I have met throughout the years and all the knowledge that has been taught to me. I will stay a part of Bold Idea for as long as I can, as a student and as a mentor or guest speaker, if Bold Idea would have me.

Meet 10-year old coder Dalia

This month, Bold Idea transitioned one of its after-school coding clubs to an online format. It was an experiment to understand if learning computer science would work well if the mentor and student are not in the same room. Bold Idea students at our Plano program site are now learning and interacting with their mentors and each other digitally.

We spoke with one of our youngest students, 10-year old Dalia, about her experience learning computer science for the first time and trying it from home.

What did you think of coding or computer science before Bold Idea? I thought coding would be tricky and difficult to learn.

What have you been the most proud of yourself in Bold Idea? Building the breakout game!

When is it most frustrating in Bold Idea? When a code does not work!

Tell me about working with the mentors. What is that experience like? Working with the mentors is amazing! The mentors are kind and make me want to code more. They all make the experience equally fun!

How has Bold Idea changed you? Bold Idea changed the way I think of Computer Science.

Why is it important that we bring this program to students your age? Students my age may think that they are too young to try coding. I learned that is not the case!

What do you want other kids, and even girls, to know about coding and computer science? Age or gender does not matter when it comes to learning how to code.

What do you believe about computer science that you didn’t before? I believe that Computer Science can be used to solve many complex problems.

What do you think of yourself and your abilities now? I am way better at coding and critical thinking than before I started with Bold Idea.

Coding helped Jessica break out of her comfort zone

8th-grade coder Jessica (left), with her mentor Daisy, thinks back on two years with Bold Idea

“As a person, I’ve definitely grown. As a coder, I’ve been able to think outside the box a lot more often and see things from different perspectives. All because I've been given more perspectives to look at things. It just made my creative self a lot more strong.”

When Jessica was 11, she didn’t think much of coding. “I thought it was just punching numbers into a computer.”

“I didn’t really think it was something you could do in middle school. I thought it was more for adults. I didn’t think it had anything to do with kids,” she added.

Jessica filled her out-of-school time with sports and music. She was most comfortable with activities where she already excelled, like basketball and choir, and was hesitant to try anything new.

But after hearing about Bold Idea and that it was for middle school students, Jessica thought she’d give it a try. “I kinda had an idea of what I wanted to do in my future but I wanted to see if there was more I was good at or interested in - in case that sparked my interest,” she said.

Jessica has participated in Bold Idea’s weekly computer science program for two years now. With hands-on projects like a website on animal adoption and supportive mentors like Daisy Izaguirre, a student at UNT Dallas, Jessica’s confidence and interest in computer science grew.

“I really didn’t think I could make things like websites and quizzes. It made me realize that I’m capable of more than I’ve limited myself to. It’s opened a lot of new doors for me - for my future and what I want to do and study. I think just because of that I can grow on it and make a job out of it,” she said.

Her proudest moment was her first presentation at Bold Idea’s Demo Day event. “I was just proud of what we had accomplished. I didn’t think I could go up there and talk in front of that many people about what I had made, so I thought of it as a milestone for myself.”

Since then, talking in front of people has become a lot easier for Jessica and given her the confidence to explain what she created and how she did it.

She traces a lot of that confidence back to the support from her mentors, who she’s seen impacted as well. “They’re like your biggest fan. They don’t give you the answer right away. They give you time to figure it out. Maybe they don’t even know the answer, so you have to figure it out together. I think that’s just like the best part. You’re not just learning something, they’re learning something they can carry too.”

Now as an 8th grader, what does she think of computer science?

“I think that computer science has a lot of different meanings, like coding for the home, getting rid of a virus, or creating new technology. It’s whatever you want to make or interpret it. And it’s a lot about creativity and imagination, because if you think about it - now days we have the resources to make anything with technology and computer science. So, it’s definitely possible!” she said.

“Now that I’ve done coding, it’s opened up a lot of new things for me. I’ve also gotten into baking and teaching other kids coding. Because I tried coding, it made me want to do other things, because I realized how much I liked it.”

Meet Soren: 9th-Grade Game Developer

“Having experience with coding has definitely made my high school year so far a lot less stressful, because it’s just one class I really don’t have to worry about.” - Soren Ingraham, 9th grade

Soren decided his future career in the 7th grade - game developer. It was his first year participating in Bold Idea’s weekly computer science program. Over two semesters Soren learned to design games and code them in the Javascript programming language.

“That definitely got me thinking about how games are designed and how fun it would be to work on them,” he said.

“I got to make my own game and see people have fun playing it. I shared it with a bunch of people at my school, and they all got hooked for a couple days. That was really fun.”

In nine weeks, Soren and his team made a 3D version of the classic arcade game Asteroids. The player can fly around in a spaceship, shoot at asteroids, and try to protect a planet they designed.

“We had used up so much memory on the computer just on the asteroids, like 500 asteroids floating around, that all it was able to handle was just a plain white sphere for the planet,” he laughs.

Prior to Bold Idea, he had tried robotics at school and a little online coding, but never a lot of it - much less code his own game. “This has really opened my eyes to everything that’s possible with coding.”

Soren is still coming up with ideas for future games and writing them down in his journal. He’s tried to make a couple of them on his own and wants to build more experience in Javascript.

His main focus now is freshman year at TAG Magnet School, a Dallas ISD high school ranked as #11 in the nation by the US News and World Report '2018 Top High Schools in America’. Soren applied for this competitive school and was accepted.

Computer science is a required course at TAG, but Soren feels more than prepared to take it on. “Having experience with coding has definitely made my high school year so far a lot less stressful, because it’s just one class I really don’t have to worry about,” he said.

In fact, Bold Idea has given him the confidence and skills to help his classmates catch on to tough concepts, and he’s and connect with people who share his interests.

“It’s let me make friends with a lot more people - people at my school who are also interested in computer science,” he said.

Soren now mentors younger Bold Idea students in east Dallas and it’s clear he’s having an impact on them. “He is very helpful in every way,” said 6th grader Nadia Flores. Soren worked with Nadia this fall to code a website about an ice cream shop.

At TAG, he’s also taking an elective called Math Behind Games, where he’s learning how to apply concepts from math to different board games.

“For my project the past six weeks, I coded a simulation of a Monopoly game to figure out which spaces were landed on the most and the average revenue per turn for each property, so that was really fun. Jail was the space landed on the most, because there are four different ways to get to jail - speeding, landing on Go to Jail, chance and community chest. But the property where you’d earn money the fastest was New York I believe, because it was about seven spaces away from jail. That was really fun to do.”

Why learn to code when you’re young?

According to Soren: “It’s just becoming a more and more important skill as time goes on. In just five years, everyone must know at least a little coding. The earlier you learn, the easier it will be. Computer science can be really interesting depending on what you try. Show them (middle schoolers) the things that are fun, like making your own game, and that will get them interested.”

Meet Megan: Solving problems with friends makes coding fun

Bold Idea is not like a traditional classroom - and that’s what makes it fun, according to Megan, a Dallas 6th grader. When her mom signed her up in 3rd grade, Megan was excited but not sure what to expect. She pictured a classroom with students doing their own work and raising their hands when they needed help from a teacher.

“But it’s not,” she said. “It’s you and a partner. You get to have more fun than a classroom. You get to collaborate more, and there’s more problem solving. Because in Spanish you’re just learning words, and in English you’re just writing. You’re not solving anything.”

Soon after joining Bold Idea, she had her first problem to solve: Make a character shake in a simple MIT Scratch game. She coded the character to turn left 90 degrees and then right 90 degrees. But the action was so quick that the game user wouldn’t notice the movement. Megan solved it by adding a timing delay between the motion and then putting it in a loop, a computer science concept that repeats an action over and over again.

In her three years with Bold Idea, Megan has learned to embrace problem solving and seek help from her friends or a volunteer mentor. “I felt proud of myself whenever I was confused about something, got help, and then figured it out.” And she has a good response when frustrating problems do come up: “I try to stay calm and work it out. Sometimes I have to take a break.”

She also thinks it’s cool that the mentors do this kind of work in their jobs at Bottle Rocket. “I really like it,” she said. “I think it’s inspiring.”

Megan encourages her friends and other girls to try computer science. Many have signed up, and she feels that it’s brought her closer to those friends and helped her make new ones.

For girls at least, learning to code in elementary school is smart, according to Megan. At that age, they’re open to exploring lots of different activities until they find their ‘one thing.’ By high school, it’s too late, she feels. “If they never try it up to high school, they’ll never know.”

Among the many things she likes, computer science ranks high. “I feel like it can impact my future. It’s something I can do for a living - or I can do something else with computer science.”

Meet Elias: Computer Science Fuels His Creativity

Elias is a creative person. “I like coloring, drawing, painting - creative stuff,” said the Cedar Hill 8th grader. He joined Bold Idea’s ideaSpark program two years ago at his Dallas middle school. He had no idea then that he could be creative with computer science. But that quickly changed with his first project, a mobile app. “I got into it. Just - poof! It all came to me.”

Computer science has given Elias another creative outlet. Website development is his favorite of all his coding projects. Languages like HTML and CSS give him the freedom to design and create, he says.

“I think I’m most proud of myself when I’m being creative,” he said. “Technically, your whole life is based on creativity, and you use it throughout school and really everything.”

And that creative mindset will help students like Elias go far. In LinkedIn analysis, creativity topped the list of soft skills that employers are looking for in 2019. 

Every Wednesday Elias meets with a team of students and his mentors, volunteers from Pariveda Solutions and Texas Instruments. Many of the same people have mentored Elias since he started Bold Idea, like Nicki Hames. He said, “It takes a lot for the mentors to be here at middle school. It’s a privilege for them to be here. They get up in the morning, go to work, and get in their cars and drive themselves all the way over here. They care a lot.”

“For a long time, I thought computer science would be fun, and then I found this group,” Elias added.

While he couldn’t nail down a career choice when he entered middle school, Elias is now thinking about a job in computer science or psychology - careers where you can listen to people and design solutions. Next though, Elias feels confident that he’ll do well in a high school computer science class and wants to mentor students younger than him. 

Every Coder Has a Story: Meet MaKayla and Ascension

Bold Idea students Ascension (left) and MaKayla (right) are collaborating on a 3D game, which they're coding in Javascript with support from their mentor, Ben.

For 16 year-old MaKayla, computer science got really interesting once she realized it was about solving problems.
 
As a coder, she most enjoys fixing bugs in her program – and there can be lots of bugs, she points out. There is a joy in locating the one solution. “For me, it has to logically make sense – like in math when there’s a sign error. I can locate it, then go back and change it.”
 
The appeal of problem solving would have shocked even her two years ago. Coding seemed cool, but also a lot of work and trouble to perfect. “I saw it as lots of back and forth between typing and testing, fixing and more. Maybe not worth my time,” MaKayla adds.
 
After creating numerous projects, like a mobile app that promotes driving safety, problem solving has become the most worthwhile aspect of programming. It’s something new about herself that she discovered after joining Bold Idea.
 
MaKayla and her coding partner Ascension are Bold Idea’s oldest students – high schoolers who have been participating in Bold Idea programs for nearly two years. Every Saturday morning, they meet with their mentor Ben at Union, a coffee shop near SMU. The two are working together on a 3D game using the programming language Javascript.
 
During each weekly session the girls will alternate pair programming roles – the driver who types the code and the navigator who directs the coding. MaKayla and Ascension have found this process highly valuable for spotting errors while they are coding. A mistake is quickly caught by the second pair of eyes. “You get to talk through it as you’re doing it and help each other, which is what I like,” said MaKayla.
 
Other times it’s a miscommunication that will lead to the bug. The girls recently caught a spelling error. ‘Sin’ (the math term) was what Ascension said but MaKayla heard ‘sign’. The group gave a collective groan and chuckle, before declaring, “That’s fixed. What’s next?”
 
Ascension has also noticed her perception of computer science evolve. “When I first started Bold Idea, it was just going to coding on Saturday and coming back on the next Saturday,” she said. “But now, I’m more interested in it. I’m wanting to make an app or do more outside of Saturday.”
 
Her list of potential coding projects continues to grow each day. Among them are a mobile app horror game based on the recent movie It and a lifestyle app that rewards users with gift cards or monetary payment for reading books.
 
MaKayla agrees that what you’re creating can offer its own driving motivation. “Before, I thought of it as maybe just making games. But then I realized, especially last year when we made an app, that you can use what you learned to actually make a difference and build something that could possibly help other people, which is cool.”
 
Ascension is still considering which projects are most doable right now, but knows she’s closer to creating her ideas with help from her partner and mentor.
 
She remembers teachers in the past have tried introducing coding in the classroom, but often failed to spark an interest. “At my school, I didn’t like it. The only thing my teacher did was tell us to get on the website, sign in and work on it. Then, he would give us a grade on it. But he never really taught us about it or took the time. Here, I feel like it’s more hands on with people to show us how to do it, and it’s a different experience than at school.”
 
“It’s definitely different,” MaKayla agrees. “I feel like teachers traditionally talk at you rather than work with you. So it’s nice having a mentor who can do it with us, and we can discuss the issues together and do it at the same time.”
 
The girls point out that ‘mentor’ is the right way to describe the volunteer who helps through their coding projects.
 
The future is bright for both girls, who are now motivated to fix bugs and create the next great app that helps others. MaKayla is already planning a career in engineering, though she’s not sure what field of engineering yet.
 
Whatever MaKayla and Ascension pursue, one things for certain: Bold Idea will have their back.
 

Pair Programming Creates Better Code

By Jeff Grogan

When you picture a computer programmer, chances are he or she is hunched over a keyboard in a dark room, chugging energy drinks with one hand and typing furiously with the other. Much more often, though, programmers work in pairs and in clean, well-lit offices.

Programming pairs are made of a "driver" and a "navigator." The driver types code into the computer while the navigator catches typos and suggests additions or changes. Programmers switch roles frequently during a project, which fosters their deep knowledge of the program and allows each partner to practice both skills.

Why not work alone?

Some software engineers still hold onto the superhero (or villain) mantra, "I work alone." To be sure, pair programming has serious trade-offs to consider, but research makes clear this technique has real benefits in many situations.

Someone's watching you

Partners place valuable pair-pressure on one another, since each wants to impress the other with his or her coding and proofreading skills. This pressure helps keep both programmers focused, reducing time following wild goose chases during troubleshooting.

Pair programmers also gain opportunities to teach their partners, which either solidifies their knowledge or corrects their mistakes. Studies also show young programmers who work in pairs show increased persistence when facing a problem. All these factors help equip students with the confidence and skills to take on challenging tasks alongside a constant, supportive peer.

Worth the cost

Common sense would tell employers that hiring two programmers to work on a single project means spending twice as much money as necessary. However, results from a University of Utah experiment reveal otherwise: "Because the pairs worked in tandem, they were able to complete their assignments 40–50% more quickly."

In addition, pairs have been found to produce code with much fewer mistakes than individually written code. The cost of finding and fixing errors makes pair programming at least as efficient — and certainly less of a hassle — than working alone.

More fun with a friend

Pair programming is not only a worthwhile investment, it also helps coders to enjoy their job! The same study at the University of Utah found 96% of professional pair programmers enjoyed their pair-programming tasks more than when they programmed alone.

Young programmers also overwhelmingly enjoy working in pairs. One researcher in the UK found that successful programming partnerships increased middle school students' favorability toward computer science and likelihood of continuing to study the subject.

Immeasurable results

Simply talking to children engaged with computer science can tell you what any number of scientific surveys have struggled to document: Kids who have fun learning at a young age are much more likely to become lifelong learners. Pair programming helps even the most introverted young people express themselves and invent new ideas with their partners and friends.

Jeff Grogan is a professional freelance writer and editor. He supports Bold Idea because he believes in the unifying, empowering effect programming can have on students. Bold Idea inspires him to work graciously and meet practical needs with the skills he has.

Every Coder Has a Story - Meet the Students Solving Our Everyday Problems

Dialexa, a Dallas technology research, design and creation firm, recently opened its doors to our Union Coffee ideaSpark team, giving students an inside look at real-world tech development. Organized by two of the team’s mentors, Dialexa engineers Luke Gordon and Christian Ayala, the event included a demo through Dialexa’s downtown-Dallas workspace and introductions with several engineers on staff. Most impressive was a walk through of the company’s hardware lab and a demo of several drones. 

The student team also had the opportunity to impress Dialexa, as well as their families, with 5-minute demos of their mobile app projects. Here’s a summary of the projects, which each started with a relatable, everyday problem that could be solved using software.

Meet Elliott — Connecting teachers to substitutes

“What’s one problem that every school faces? The subs don’t know what to do,” 5th grader Elliott of Dallas starts out his pitch. His solution - a mobile app interface for teachers to share lesson plans and substitutes to plan out their school day. The app is called ‘Teacher Station’ and the benefits would also reach students, who could have a more productive day, as well.

Meet Damian — Making sleep time more peaceful

Damian, a 5th from DeSoto, shared that it’s often hard to get to sleep when irritating sounds, like air conditioners, TVs or dogs, are heard in the background. His mobile app allows users to select from a playlist of peaceful music to drown out the unwanted noise, while setting a timer for the music’s duration. 

Meet Fallon, Meredith and MaKayla — Answering the question “What do I wear today?”

The team’s three girls, who range from 4th grade to 9th grade, agreed on one common problem: With the ever changing weather in North Texas, every morning offered the same challenge of deciding what to wear based on the weather. And simply knowing it was 50 degrees outside didn’t offer much help. Each girl took a different approach to the solution in her own mobile app - from pulling external weather information into the app’s back-end system to matching a user’s wardrobe to the temperature and offering options.

We also interviewed the team early in their ideation phase to follow the problem-solving process:

Every Coder Has a Story - Meet Ella, Issac, Muhammad and Adrian

A website can offer a new approach to solving problems. That’s what the elementary team at the Frisco Athletic Center is learning this semester in ideaSpark. The team, comprised of Ella, Isaac, Muhammad and Adrian, have tackled school bullying and encouraged reading in their team website projects. The students as a team have learned to discuss problems they face, ask questions on what they don’t know, wireframe their webpages using pencil and paper, and build webpages using their new HTML and CSS skills.

Book recommendations

Like many kids their age, this team gets excited about all things Star Wars, Minecraft and Pokemon Go. That sparked an idea to create a website that recommends books to kids based on their interests. Ella is in charge of the homepage, and she’s using her design and CSS skills to make an engaging landing page. Users start by selecting their interest, which will direct them to a student page with books on that topic — Minecraft (Adrian), Star Wars (Isaac) and Pokemon Go! (Muhammad). 

Here is a video of Issac describing the team's website project:

All four students on the team are most excited about the design part, which uses CSS or cascading style sheets.

“I like to style the websites. So after we make them, we get to design them. I use CSS and we type in the code for it and play around with it,” Ella said.

“I’ve enjoyed that I could make other things, like color the words or put things in the middle. I can make the background a color, make things move when I hover over them or bring people to other pages when you click on them,” added Adrian.

In their first project together, the team tackled school bullying with each student taking a different topic like verbal abuse or cyber bullying.