While many middle and high school students have been spending their summer relaxing, 61 local students opted to keep their minds stimulated during Coding Camps hosted at Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU).
The two camps were a project between MVSU’s Mathematics, Computer and Information Science (MCIS) Department and Mississippi State University’s Center for Cyber Education, and supported by the National Science Foundation.
The first camp was held June 3-6 for 38 middle school students from Greenwood, Humphreys, Sunflower, Greenville, and Western Line school districts. The second camp, hosted June 17-20, featured 23 high school students from those school districts.
Marcus Golden, MVSU computer science instructor and coding camp coordinator, said that the experience for the students was a unique one filled with a wealth of information that helped to build exposure to computer science and its creative nature.
“Each day, students were exposed to different aspects of computer science, such as coding, cybersecurity, mobile app development, robotics, and virtual reality,” Golden explained. “Students created prototypes of mobile apps, built robots from recycled materials, designed animated stories and programmed characters to dance with code. Students worked on a final project in one of these areas that they then presented to parents and fellow camp participants as part of the closing presentation for the camp.”
The camps also increased students’ interest in pursuing careers in this high-demand, high-wage profession.
During the camps, industry professionals from C Spire visited and shared information with the students about career opportunities in computer science. They also allowed students time to interact with Pepper—the C Spire robot.
Throughout the four-day camps, students read the fictional book, “The Code Witch”, by Sarah Sterman.
Sterman, a post-doctoral student at UC Berkley, spoke with the students over live video on the final day of camp and shared her journey into computer science and what motivated her to write the book.
Lobaki, a company that has its roots in Clarksdale, Mississippi, shared with the high school students opportunities in the state to pursue careers in virtual reality and provided hands-on activities for the students to experience the technology.
Students also enjoyed presentations from MVSU faculty in addition to a cybersecurity presentation from MSU’s Center for Cyber Innovation.
“Overall, the camp provided students with a full schedule of informative, hands-on activities and experiences that exposed them to computer science and the impact it will have on their future career and everyday life,” Golden said.
