RICHMOND, Va -- A week of computer science coding kicked off on Tuesday at the Science Museum of Virginia. The coders -- middle school students.
It was part of the second annual National Hour of Code Week., which runs from Dec. 8 -14. The goal of the global initiative is to expose students to computer science and take some of the mystery out of the subject. The exercise is also geared toward career preparation.
Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones joined Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton in hosting the students. Students tried to write as many lines of code as possible in one hour during the exercise.
At the event were students from MLK Middle School, the Mayor's Youth Academy, and Bellevue Elementary.
Also participating in the effort is St. Michael's Episcopal School in Richmond. School leaders said students there were excited to take part in the exercise and had experience with coding through projects in technology classes. Seventh and eighth graders at St. Michael's had completed 20 hours of coding before the event.
Organizers of the worldwide event said they expected more than 15 million students to take part.
