Students Showcase Six Years of Coding Innovation

BLUE RIVER: What began as a vision during the uncertainty of 2020 has grown into a full K-12 computer science pathway at McKenzie Schools, culminating Thursday evening in the district’s first-ever Technology Showcase.

Held on May 7, the event highlighted student coding projects from kindergarten through sixth grade while celebrating the development of the McKenzie Coding Academy, a program designed to introduce students to computer science skills from their earliest school years through high school graduation.

The tech showcase was the result of six years of planning, collaboration, and persistence. While what parents saw might have been new to them, the program – developed as the “McKenzie Model” – is now being implemented in Mapleton, Junction City, Sheldon, and Fern Ridge classrooms.

The program traces its roots to the summer of 2020, when Connected Lane County approached McKenzie River Community School with the idea of building a computer science curriculum from the ground up. Computer Science teacher Corey Culp designed the framework with an emphasis on long-term sustainability and student leadership.

Rather than placing additional instructional demands on elementary teachers, the district developed a “Tech Ambassadors” program in which trained high school students teach coding lessons to younger students.

That model has since become the foundation of the McKenzie Coding Academy.

The curriculum now guides students from introductory Code.org lessons in kindergarten through advanced studies in web design, Python programming, and mobile app development by the time they graduate high school.

During the showcase, families and community members viewed projects created by students across grade levels.

Kindergarten students demonstrated beginner coding concepts using sequences and loops through Code.org’s Course A curriculum, while first graders expanded those skills by programming more complex patterns and maze navigation activities in Course B.

Second grade students introduced debugging skills into their work, learning how to identify and correct coding mistakes.

Third graders created conversation-based coding projects, programming animated characters to speak back and forth with carefully timed dialogue.

Fourth graders combined history and robotics in an Oregon Trail-themed activity, programming Sphero robots to navigate maps while stopping at historical landmarks to share facts about westward migration.

Fifth graders blended coding with astronomy lessons by creating interactive Scratch presentations about planets and stars.

Sixth graders used Scratch programming to bring biome research projects to life through animation and interactive displays.

The district’s Tech Ambassadors also played a central role in the evening.

The ambassadors – McKenzie River high school students – are responsible for designing, preparing, and teaching coding lessons to elementary students throughout the year. Before entering classrooms, ambassadors receive training in both the curriculum and presentation skills.

In addition to helping younger students understand coding concepts, ambassadors assist with troubleshooting programs and mentoring students during projects.

School leaders say the program helps high school students develop leadership, communication, and teaching skills while also strengthening the district’s technology education pipeline.

The showcase represented a milestone many years in the making.

“The end goal was always a Technology Showcase,” organizers noted. “It took six years to get here. Tonight, we finally made it.”