Schools in the Gwinnett County Public Schools Seckinger cluster are focused on technology and artificial intelligence that starts at the youngest level of Patrick Elementary. That approach caught the attention of the pros at Accenture, an international company with about 4,000 Atlanta-based employees who specialize in strategy consulting and technology.
“One of our focuses is growing skills and building the future workforce and seeing what Gwinnett has done with the Seckinger cluster, how they’re infusing technology and AI throughout all the disciplines students are working with throughout the day, was fascinating to us,” said Accenture spokesperson Aimee Ertley. “We also saw an opportunity to work with children who have this focus as part of their day-to-day lessons.”
Ertley and a team of Accenture experts recently headed to the Buford school to lead three days of coding lessons for every grade. The company launched its “Hour of Code” program in 2012 and has since worked with schools across the metro area to introduce students to coding principles.
“This is an opportunity to demystify code for those who look at it as a nerd activity,” said Accenture engineer Enga Wright, who runs the program. “An hour of code lets you see what it takes to develop the programs for things you see every day. In one hour, you can code an app for your phone or set up a game, and kids see it’s not as hard as they think it might be.”
The visit to Patrick was a first for the Accenture team and an energizing experience for students, said Amber Melander, the school’s computer science teacher, robotics coach and AI specialist.
“They were all very excited to show off what they know, even my little first graders,” she said. “They also liked hearing from people who are in the industry and to learn how they use coding in their jobs.”
The Accenture experts helped students select music and set up a dance party and train an AI simulation robot. At the end of the hour, participants received a certificate of participation.
“Some students are a little reluctant to start and unsure of how to do it, but by the end they usually want to know if they can do more,” said Wright. “We share the Hour of Code website where there are free accounts. And they also ask us to come back.”
Older students are often excited to hear from people working in the industry and doing jobs they want to do, said Wright. And they also noticed a few other things, said Melander.
“Many students asked me, ‘Did you notice how many of them have brown skin like me?’” said Melander. “The group represented all cultures, and that’s so important for kids to see people like them in this industry. It was also a good mix of men and women. It was great to see that representation.”
Both teachers and tech experts hope learning the fun side of coding will encourage more students to consider careers in the field.
“There’s already a tech worker shortage across the country, and for Georgia to stay competitive, we’ve got to keep training future technologists,” said Ertley, “even if they’re learning skills for jobs that might not even exist yet.”
Information about Patrick Elementary is online at gcpsk12.org/PatrickES.
SEND US YOUR STORIES. Each week we look at programs, projects and successful endeavors at area schools, from pre-K to grad school. To suggest a story, contact H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or 770-744-3042.
About the Author
