by John Dowd
If a person was stranded on a deserted island, with nothing but some pliable material, and a roll of duct tape, how would they make a water holding container that could stand upright, as well as hold 1,000 milliliters of water? This is one of several questions posed to the stranded class in the Coding for Kids program. Exercising their creativity, engineering and designing skills, participating youths must work through several problems during the five-day summer class. Each day poses a new challenge, building on prior lessons, and each day students must use limited supplies to create a working tool under strict criteria. The class is considered STEM learning, which combines science, technology, engineering and mathematics to solve everyday problems. Shannon Barrett, also a Stevensville 6th grade math and ELA teacher, runs the program. According to her, the camp promotes a scientific approach to problems. She explained that it gets their brains started in the “engineer mindset,” where students “identify problems, brainstorm, build, then test, then rebuild after identifying problems.”
This is only a window into one of dozens of these types of classes offered by Coding for Kids. For Barrett, this is her fifth class with the program, and she usually teaches “scratch programming,” but wanted to offer something a bit different.
Coding for Kids started in 2019 with two summer classes, and now offers more than 32 classes every year. “Every year it’s expanded!” said program coordinator and founder, Loey Knapp. She got the idea when family wanted her to teach a summer camp for their kids about technology, coding and computers. From that humble beginning, the program now partners with Stevensville Schools and is open to all kids in the valley.
This summer there are 16 classes, with 182 registrants. But more than a summer camp program, Coding for Kids also offers after school classes in both the fall and spring for the Stevensville, Lone Rock and Florence areas. There are classes for grades 1-12, and Knapp hopes to bring more interest from older kids, and to open more classes for high-schoolers.
Knapp highlighted that the classes in the program are deeply enjoyed by all participants. She spoke about several students taking numerous classes. She also added that many kids have taken 10 or more classes and “they keep coming back!”
Classes are very hands-on, and Knapp explained that participants are “freer” than they are in a regular school environment. Without the strict confines, participants are more willing to participate, and get more out of it, learning of their own volition.
Coding for Kids offers a plethora of classes, on topics from DNA crime scenes, to digital art and more. They used to offer classes on drones and still offer many on computers, coding and much more. “They love it!” said Knapp.
One of her main goals is to create a “tech network” of classes and teachers in the valley that will “ultimately lead to jobs, high paying jobs, for these kids,” she explained. This would include a path, from first grade to hire, of courses and programs among the schools. Herself having a strong tech background, the topic of technology education is heavy on Knapp’s heart. She was an IBM program manager for 18 years, and spent 10 years with the University of Montana as the assistant chief information officer and then CIO (Chief Information Officer). With so many years in Information Technology, she has since tried to bring more people into the fold and find careers in the field.
“Our focus is to learn to enjoy learning,” said Knapp about Coding for Kids. “The valley is going high tech,” she added, and explained that it will need employees with a basis in technology.
With Stevensville partnering with Coding for Kids, all classes are housed in the school, and during the summer, classes get free rein of the computer labs and other classrooms in the middle school. Dave Thennis, Stevensville Schools Superintendent, said, “It’s a cool thing for kids to be motivated to learn exciting skills.” Thennis observed, “Sometimes summer gets the bad rap of ‘learning takes a break,’ but in this case learning is enhanced!” He mirrored Knapp’s point, saying, “Technology is just embedded in everything we do. This is an exciting partnership, something very positive for our kids to do during the summer.”
More information about Coding for Kids can be found on the website, codingbitterroot.org. There, information about registration, class offerings and the organization can be found.