Schools across the state joined nationwide celebrations of Computer Science Education with more than 170 events over the past week – from an Hour of Code at Kailua Elementary to a family friendly event hosted by Daniel K. Inouye Elementary that featured coding activities, robot obstacle courses and much more.

"It's wonderful to see students and teachers get excited about Computer Science education, not just during this Computer Science Education Week but year-round," said Superintendent Dr. Christina Kishimoto. "We've been working on advancing Computer Science curriculum as part of our Strategic Plan. We look forward to presenting our plans before the Board of Education on implementation across cross-disciplinary fields such as Math, Science, STEM, Advanced Placement and Career and Technical Education."  

In support of the Department's efforts in developing rigorous K-12 computer science standards, Governor David Ige yesterday added his name along with other governors to the Governors Partnership for K-12 Computer Science.

Computer science (CS) education is tied to the Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) Strategic Plan and implementation strategies. Earlier this year, HIDOE's Office of Curriculum Instruction and Student Support met with the Hawaii State Student Council to get their perspective on a CS education rollout effort.  The CS activities rolled out this week across the state is a reflection of the teacher collaboration taking place as well as raising opportunities for students to voice the importance of digital learning.

"We know that the workforce's top jobs are in need of kids who are educated in computer science," said Sarah Milianta-Laffin, seventh grade teacher, Ilima Intermediate. "If we're going to get to that place, we have to get kids excited about it – we have to be their cheerleaders because we're teaching them about a world that we haven't been taught about ourselves."

Many schools are incorporating courses in coding, which has been well received by students. 

"Coding is a superpower," explained Mitchell Togiai, seventh grader at Ilima Intermediate. "In the world that we live in today where technology is everywhere, it's really important to learn how to code."

Capping off CS Week

Superintendent Kishimoto and members of her leadership team attended a close out event - Momilani Elementary's third annual CS for ALL Night on Friday, Dec. 8. It featured hands on activities connected to concepts in computer science such as computing systems, networks and the Internet, as well as algorithms and programming.

Click here to check out a recap of the week's events.