Fergus Falls Journal
12/04/13
When Jesse Thorstad started the Cleveland Coding Club a few months ago, he had no idea how many students would show up.
Thorstad, a technology specialist at Fergus Falls High School, had found an interesting coding program called Tynker that he thought could benefit younger students and give them some early work with computer coding. He sent out a blanket invitation to Cleveland School students, urging them to show up to one of the school’s computer lab after school one Monday.
The turnout was not what he expected.
“Sixty kids showed up,” Thorstad said. “Every computer was used and there were kids sitting on the floor that first day, just waiting.”
SInce that hectic first day, the program has reached a steadier place. Those initial 60 students eventually became about 40 regular attendees. This week, Thorstad cut the program from three days a week down to two, with about 20 students on each day.
The Cleveland Coding Club works with Tynker, a program in which young students drag and drop blocks of code onto a colorful and interactive screen. Some of the codes make characters on the screen talk; still others move characters around.
On Tuesday, third-grader Peyton Marquette was working on a game involving cannons, dragons and explosions. Thorstad helped him work through some problems, but much of the class is self-directed.
Thorstad spent the first few weeks showing kids how to work the program. They took to it quickly, which has encouraged Thorstad about the future of computing programming in the city’s school system.