Student launches elementary coding club; district students demo games at board meeting

Bianca Elling, a junior at Orange High School, presented Tangi Elementary Code at the Olentangy Local Schools board meeting on Feb. 26, describing an after‑school computer science program she launched at Walnut Creek Elementary in fall 2024.

Bianca told the board the program meets once a week for 50 minutes, uses a block‑based coding language to teach fundamentals such as sprites and if/else logic, and finishes each term with student final projects. Walnut Creek Principal Michelle Sites introduced Bianca and said the program began as a student initiative and now works with the district’s instructional technology staff.

Students demonstrated projects including a Treasure Hunt game and a Flappy Bird–style level. Neil Vantam described his three-level Flappy Bird project; Elijah Jefferson presented a Sprite Run game; two students, Alex and Nandu, demoed a Treasure Hunt project. Board members praised the students’ coding work and encouraged the initiative’s expansion.

Board members asked about recruiting high‑school volunteers to help run the clubs at other elementary schools. Bianca said she has created Google Forms for volunteer signups and is coordinating with the director of instructional technology; she said logistics and the need for volunteers with coding knowledge make recruitment challenging but viable with even one volunteer per school.

Superintendent Mr. Meyer and other board members commended Bianca and the students, calling the program a model for student-led opportunities and encouraging parents and high‑school students to volunteer. The board did not take formal action on the presentation; staff said more work is needed to scale the program across elementary schools and to formalize volunteer recruitment.