Virginia’s “Hour of Code” kicks off at 10:00 AM

It’s Computer Science Education Week, and CodeVA invites you (kids, parents, everyone!) to get in on it…TODAY!

December 9, 2014; 7:34 AM • by Valerie Catrow

December 8th through 14th is Computer Science Education Week, an annual effort focused on showing students (and their teachers/parents/guardians/involved adults) the importance of–you guessed it–computer science education. While the folks behind CSEdWeek advocate regular inclusion of computer science in the classroom all year long, their big push this week is something called the “Hour of Code.” Computer science education supporters around the world are asked to devote one hour during CSEdWeek to coding–learning it, teaching it, and exploring how this skill strengthens our kids’ problem-solving and creative skills and offers them a better foundation for professional success in the 21st century.

Virginia’s “official” Hour of Code kicks of this morning at 10:00 AM at the Science Museum of Virginia (2500 W. Broad Street). CodeVA will lead the charge, offering coding activities for anyone who wants to learn. Mayor Dwight Jones; Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton; and Deputy Secretary of Technology Anthony Fung will be there to share their thoughts on the importance of computer science education. Students from Martin Luther King Middle School, the Mayor’s Youth Academy, and Bellevue Elementary will also be attendance.

If you’re unable to make it to today’s event, you can live stream it on CodeVA’s website, or take matters into your own hands. Spend an hour today (or sometime this week) checking out csedweek.org for tutorials geared towards a variety of devices, ability levels, and areas of interest–they’ve even got one featuring Anna and Elsa, for Pete’s sake.

For more information on the Hour of Code, watch this brief (and star-studded?!) video:

And while we’ve got your attention, go ahead and add your name to the list of more than 1.6 million others on Code.org’s petition to give every student in every school the opportunity to learn computer science.