Governor visits coding classroom

Skill critical to creating startups, jobs in state, students told

Gretchen Bush, 14, explains to Gov. Asa Hutchinson an assignment she completed in Brenda Qualls’ coding class at Bryant High School on Monday. The visit, one of nine planned at high schools across the state, gave the governor an opportunity to speak to students about the benefi ts of taking computer science courses and to encourage students to sign up for coding classes this fall.
Gretchen Bush, 14, explains to Gov. Asa Hutchinson an assignment she completed in Brenda Qualls’ coding class at Bryant High School on Monday. The visit, one of nine planned at high schools across the state, gave the governor an opportunity to speak to students about the benefi ts of taking computer science courses and to encourage students to sign up for coding classes this fall.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson stepped into Benton High School's auditorium Monday morning and told students to sign up for coding classes, become programmers and start businesses in Arkansas.

It was his first speech on the first day of a computer science tour that runs through Sept. 13 and includes stops in Bryant, Manila, Hope, Helena-West Helena, Marvell, Dumas and Star City.

Hutchinson said he would make computer coding a state priority during his 2014 election campaign. After entering office, he pushed a bill to provide funding for teacher training and to mandate that high schools offer the courses.

"Arkansas likes to be first, right? Whether it's sports or something else," he told students. "Right now, we are leading the nation in computer science education."

The governor said that's because of the statewide initiative and teachers like Lauren Roseberry, a business technology instructor at Benton High School, who Hutchinson said used a state grant to take a crash course in coding.

Benton High School, like many schools, relied on Virtual Arkansas, an online instruction program made possible by the Arkansas Department of Education and local education service cooperatives, to provide some computer science courses, Hutchinson said.

But by taking the crash course, Roseberry was able to start teaching an in-person class that's attracting more students, he said.

After his speech, Hutchinson visited Roseberry's classroom and spoke with her and students.

Most of her students are male, but Roseberry said in an interview she wants to attract more girls to the field.

"Being a female, I'm the minority in computer science," she said. "A lot of women don't get to teach computer science and learn computer science. We're trying to draw in more people. That's what's inspirational to me."

The one-week course in Colorado was enough to get her started in the classroom. She said she had no background in computer science or coding. In fact, some of her students have more experience, she said.

"This is new for me. I told them, 'I'm learning with you.' And some of them who have already been coding for several years are going to teach me things," Roseberry said. "Some of them have coded at home, but not at school. It's just great that they have the ability to work with their peers to do it together."

Jacob Martin, a student in Roseberry's class, said he was interested in continuing to code after he graduates. He said he's taken other computer classes at the high school and experimented with computers -- including programming his calculator -- on his own time.

"It's just something I've always been interested in," he said. "As I spent more and more time around computers, I was like, hey, this is something I'm actually decent at. I love doing this and so I started dabbling in it more and more."

Roseberry said teachers shouldn't be intimidated by coding.

"Don't be scared to teach it. You don't have to know everything about computer science," she said. "You just have to be there as the empowerer and be willing to learn with the students. That's my advice."

When Hutchinson started his presentation in the auditorium, he asked how many students in the auditorium were interested in coding. A few dozen students raised their hands. Most said they were uninterested.

When the governor asked again at the end of his presentation, a few dozen more students raised their hands.

Hutchinson said he came to Benton because the school has "an incredible reputation," but he hoped to create a greater demand among students for classes at Benton High School.

"I also came here because, let me tell you, Hamburg, Arkansas, a small school, has 40 students taking computer science. Crossett has similar numbers taking computer science," he said. "Up in Bentonville, I think they've got a couple hundred taking it."

Anthony Owen, computer-science coordinator for the Department of Education, said after the event that computer science enrollment figures for the state will come out mid-September.

Metro on 08/23/2016

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