Mercer County students demonstrate block-based coding in DC Coders presentation to school board

Adrian Thompson, who works with Central and Day Treatment programs, told the Mercer County Board of Education that the district has implemented a ‘‘DC Coders’’ curriculum using the code.org platform to introduce block-based coding to students across settings including day treatment. Thompson said the nationally used platform teaches sequencing, loops, conditionals and event-driven logic while creating an environment where students learn debugging and ‘‘frustration tolerance.’’

Thompson invited students to the board dais to demonstrate games they built. ‘‘They developed their own sprite, decided how to win and how to lose the game,’’ Thompson said, describing classroom lessons that progressed from fundamentals to polished projects. Tenth-grader Joshua Mag demonstrated a game called Space and explained that players ‘‘gain points using your aircraft to fight off the opposing aircrafts,’’ pointing to the use of events and variables in his project. A seventh-grade student showed a game titled Cave Villages and described debugging help from peers.

Superintendent Jason Brewer and board members praised the students for both technical work and public-speaking skills. Brewer noted the district is expanding computer-science instruction across grade levels and emphasized that those skills do not always appear on state tests but are valuable for future careers.

The presentation also highlighted that the program supports students in nontraditional classrooms. Thompson said the projects build executive-function and persistence skills, and that students receive immediate feedback through the block-based interface. The district plans to continue work on coding, AI awareness, public speaking and early exposure beginning in elementary grades.

Next step: The board received the presentation and recognized the students during the meeting; no policy vote on curriculum changes was recorded.