At Quest Academy in Palatine, the Hour of Code is the Year of Code

Palatine, IL - This week, schools across the world have been participating in the Hour of Code, a dedicated week sponsored by the Department of Education and Code.org, to get kids everywhere learning how to code computer programs. In Palatine, students at Quest Academy from Pre-K all the way up to 8th grade were diving into games and activities at www.hourofcode.com, designed to introduce young people to the world of computer science. At HourofCode.com, students could learn how to code their own Flappy Bird or Angry Birds game, or for the more advanced students, create their own iPhone App or Android app using a number of app simulator activities.

So, what's the benefit to having coding skills?

"Coding skills are transferable to other aspects of our lives. The logic, creativity, and problem solving skills that are needed to code successfully, also help us become successful in our lives," says Arturo Garcia, Quest Academy Technology Teacher.

Although this is the Hour of Code across the nation, Quest Academy teaches Computer Science throughout its entire year, reaching from K to 8th grade. As part of their STEAM program (Science, Tech, Engineering, Arts, and Math), coding really starts to pick up in the middle school.

"We start students out with block programming like Scratch and Blockly, and are pushing them more and more into programming using the language of the web- namely Javascript and Python. Javascript really is the 'machine' that makes the World Wide Web functional, though the languages are improving all the time. We're also very excited about things like the "smart home," and have kids dive into creating software solutions for problems that occur in their daily lives." says Daniel Rezac, Director of Academic Technology at Quest and director of the STEAM program.

The national conversation on engineering is changing once again, as some of the largest school districts in the nation, namely Chicago and Los Angeles, are adding computer science as part of their curriculum. In addition, with the recent resurgence in the NASA space program due to Orion launch, as well as the Rosetta comet lander, being literate in science and engineering in the 21st century seems like it will be a requirement for success.

Says Mr. Garcia, "Learning to code is a way to empower kids to dream big," They're dreaming very big at Quest Academy.

About Quest Academy

Founded in 1982, Quest Academy currently serves more than 300 students from throughout the Chicago area, with a faculty and administration of 55. Quest Academy, an independent day school for children from preschool through eighth grade, admits students who show evidence of exceptional intellectual capability. By providing these gifted students with a rich, rigorous and differentiated curriculum, Quest prepares them for competitive higher education programs and productive professional careers while inspiring a lifelong love of scholarship and appreciation of the arts.

To learn more about Quest Academy, visit questacademy.org.