Philadelphia schools celebrate Computer Science Education Week with an hour of coding

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The 15th annual Computer Science Education Week kicked off with an hour-long coding session at John H. Taggart School in South Philly, where students gathered to play coding puzzles and control robots.

Over the past 15 years, the School District of Philadelphia has increased computer access, creating digital literacy labs in 132 schools. This year, more than 3,000 students participated in this tech-based curriculum.

“We want to make sure that all students have the opportunity to learn how to program, code, and more importantly, learn skills and collaboration through that,” said Melanie Harris, Chief Information Officer for the School District of Philadelphia.

Over the past 15 years, the district has invested in its digital literacy program, expanding access to over 48,000 students across 132 schools. Earlier this summer, 45 schools received upgrades to their computer labs, part of a $3.1 million investment.

John H. Taggart’s digital literacy lab was updated this year, outfitted with 12 desktop computers and 22 MacBooks, to ensure that students can be mobile when coding. Harris says in addition to technology upgrades, the spaces have been created to be modular, incentivizing collaboration.

“You want the kids working together,” Harris said. “It’s about creating very flexible learning spaces as well.

The lab has individual tables for students that can be brought together to form larger units when working in a group. Some are topped with whiteboards, allowing a tactile approach to solving coding problems.

Jessica Ross-White, the district’s director of special projects, says that these whiteboards also give students an opportunity for “unplugged activities.” The goal of the digital literacy curriculum is for students to be responsible users, producers and creators of technology, not just consumers.

“We do want to make sure that kids are not inundated by screen time, but also when they are on the screen, how are they using it responsibly,” Ross-White said. “Do they understand what cyberbullying looks like and sounds like?”

The hour of coding featured three different stations. Students rotated through these activities throughout the event, coding on desktops, playing board games and controlling Sphero BOLTs, robot balls that are controlled through code.

Thomas Goldsmith is the digital literacy teacher at John H. Taggart School. One of the things he likes about computer science is that it teaches a lifelong skill of computational thinking—the ability to break down complex problems into comprehensible parts.

Addressing the students, Goldsmith spoke to the importance of learning computer skills at a young age, preparing them for their future careers.

“Early exposure to coding and computer science concepts increases equity by broadening access to high-demand opportunities and helping close the digital divide,” Goldsmith said. “Integrating computer science across the curriculum fosters creativity and collaboration, allowing students to design solutions and work effectively.”