November 28, 2018

SVSU to host 100 fourth grade students for Hour of Code event

Saginaw Valley State University is inspiring young minds through it participation in a national initiative to increase diversity in computer science.

SVSU will host four local elementary classrooms be on campus Friday, Nov. 30 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for the Hour of Code program, designed to introduce computer coding to students at a young age.

Around 100 elementary students will participate in an hour of coding, the process of writing a computer program using a programming language. George Corser, SVSU assistant professor of computer science and information systems, and SVSU computer science students will provide instruction to the elementary students.

The participating students attend Arrowwood Elementary from Saginaw Township Community Schools, Auburn Elementary from Bay City Public Schools and Lincoln Elementary from Bangor Township Schools.

In addition to writing computer code, students from those schools will tour the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum at SVSU to introduce them to learning in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics).

The Hour of Code event is an educational program embraced by institutions in over 180 countries. SVSU has hosted this program in previous years.