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'Coding is awesome': N.W.T. students get into computer science as part of worldwide event

Students at Weledeh Catholic School in Yellowknife spent their Wednesday attached to their keyboards learning about code, as part of a worldwide effort.

The Hour of Code is an annual event meant to introduce a few computer science basics to students.

The 350 students at the school each had an hour to complete games and exercises that had a coding theme.

Steve Silva/CBC
Steve Silva/CBC

Principal Jenny Reid says computer science is a growing field for jobs, so the school wants to get students interested in it.

"Getting that exposure to coding and the understanding of what coding is is going to help them no matter what they do in their lives," she said in an interview that day.

Luke Jarvis, a Grade 5 student, played Minecraft for one of the event's activities.

He said the day has got him thinking about applying these skills in a future career.

"If I was a person who made video games, for example, then coding could help me make some of those video games," he said.

Malaika Mirza, a Grade 6 student, has been a TechSpert at the school for two years. As part of her role, she taught others students how to engage in the day's activities.

"Coding is awesome," she said. "I would like to design technology and make something revolutionary [for] the world."

Wednesday was the third time the event was held at the school.

Steve Silva/CBC
Steve Silva/CBC

Reid said she didn't have any numbers to measure the long-term success of the event, but she said she knows there has been an increased interest in the subject at the school.

She also noted that students, such as Malaika, are teaching others about coding.