York County showcases new elementary computer science resource; students demonstrate coding and robotics

York County school leaders and students demonstrated a new elementary computer science resource at the March 24 school board meeting, showing how weekly 45-minute lessons introduce coding, computational thinking and robotics to students in grades K–5.

Courtney Gonzalez Vega, who introduced the program, said the class is designed to teach the Virginia 2024 computer science standards and support the division—s strategic priority of producing "future ready graduates." "This 45 minute weekly class is focused on teaching the new 2024 computer science standards of learning to students K through fifth grade," she said, and noted the course is part of a pathway that continues into middle- and high-school programming, cybersecurity and data science offerings. She also said the board previously approved a new programming course for next school year.

Teachers from Magruder and Mount Vernon Elementary described classroom activities. Will Bennett, Magruder—s computer science resource teacher, said the lessons teach coding, logical reasoning and digital literacy and emphasized problem-solving: "It's about learning how to think and working through challenges." Kim Kinder, the Mount Vernon teacher, said the course aligns with the division—s innovation priority and gives students opportunities for "authentic learning experiences" tied to grade-level curriculum.

Students showcased hands-on projects. Fifth-grader Malia Andrews said students use Code.org and progress from guided block coding to loops and conditional statements; fourth-grader Cora described programming a color sensor and motors with LEGO SPIKE to build practical tools; Mount Vernon fifth-grader Will described designing an attachment for a Dash robot to rescue plastic "ducks" from a simulated iceberg; third grader Susanna and Tucker described projects that linked coding to science units on weather and soil conservation.

Board members asked the students questions about the projects; one board member asked how many ducks were saved, and a student answered that some groups saved about 30. The presentation concluded with the students distributing small tokens to board members and the superintendent.

Ending: The board recessed to take photos and meet the student award recipients; the elementary computer science resource is now in classroom use at participating schools and will continue as part of the county—s K–12 computer science pathway.