Partners in Code: LPS showcases computer science education at community event

December 12, 2024

Humann Elementary School third grader Hazel smiled as she watched robotic caterpillars crawl around at one of the biggest computer science events of the year.

Hazel and her brother Victor joined hundreds of other students, parents and community members at the annual Lincoln Hour of Code and Tech Fair. More than 20 technology-based organizations helped visitors discover topics such as robotics, virtual reality, computer coding and software development.

Hazel said she was having fun at the event, which took place at Nebraska Innovation Campus. She said her favorite part was learning how to write computer code for robots.

“I’m excited,” Hazel said. “I like that you get to code robots.”

Hazel’s father, Carlos, said he brought his two children to the fair after receiving an invitation from Lisa Kollbaum, who teaches computer science and music at Humann. Kollbaum also publicized the fair to students throughout the school, and Hazel and Victor asked their father if they could go.

Carlos said he was happy to see how much technology knowledge his children already owned. Lincoln Public Schools has built an extensive computer science curriculum for students in all grade levels. The activities range from learning to type on keyboards as kindergarteners to taking advanced computer science classes as seniors.

“I didn’t know really the extent of their experience with these types of things already in school,” Carlos said. “So, they were talking about things like bee-bots and programming and things like that. I didn’t know they really knew what those things were, but those were the specific things they wanted to do when they came here.”

Caitlin Provance is coordinator of the school district’s computer science curriculum for K-5 students. She said the Hour of Code was a prime example of how community partnerships are helping everyone in Lincoln. LPS and other members of the CodeLNK organization came together to provide a day of free tech-based fun for everyone.

“Working with our community partners is really great here because it helps to promote that for our workforce within the community, as far as LPS’ role in teaching students more about computer science and the skills that they’re going to need to know when they get to the workforce,” Provance said. “So, events like this really do help out with making sure that Lincoln as a whole is working together to promote the future for our children.”

Lisa Kollbaum has led computer science and music classes at Humann for the past three years and has taught at LPS for 25 years. She also felt the local partnerships have paved many positive pathways in Lincoln. LPS, UNL, Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools and Lincoln Chamber of Commerce were some of the groups on site.

“I think there’s so many things out there that we might not know about, and when we partner together, I mean, we’re sharing that knowledge,” Kollbaum said. “As our kids are growing up through the LPS system, and then they take it to the next level where they’re going to college, it just connects all of what they’re learning.”

Hour of Code is a global initiative that introduces many computer science concepts to K-12 students and their families. Events are held across the world each December during Computer Science Education Week. 

The Huskers Chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) Nebraska organization hosted the first two Hour of Code fairs in Lincoln in 2013 and 2014. CodeLNK, which consists of local schools, postsecondary institutions and technology companies, began overseeing the event in 2015.

Carlos said the free-flowing nature of the fair made it appealing for his children. Students played virtual reality games, watched a robotic dog hop around and worked on laptops, tablets and smartphones.

“It’s good to see them approach all these different activities and engage in whatever they want to and then move on to the next when they feel like it,” Carlos said.

Kollbaum joined other LPS computer science teachers at one of the fair’s booths. They watched with excitement as children programmed small robots, worked on a code hopper game and browsed several coding books.

“It’s really great to see the kids interacting with the robotics,” Provance said. “It’s great to see the kids that are really visual, spatial thinkers, and having that opportunity to showcase their knowledge, to showcase all of their strengths, to see them light up when they solve the code. They may have struggled at first, but then they use their debugging skills, and then they solve the puzzle and get the robot where it needs to be.”

Kollbaum said Lincoln’s Hour of Code event was setting up students for long-term success. Four of her Humann students stopped her as she walked into the conference center, and she recognized at least 30 other Huskies during the day.

“I think it’s great for families to see what we’re doing and to see that this is hands-on learning which engages the kids so much in what they do,” Kollbaum said. “I mean, they love coming to computer science class because of the engagement they get and how practical it is in the real world, how it just translates from what they’re doing right now and how they’re going to be able to use it in the future.

“There’s jobs in the future that don’t exist right now, that we don’t even know what they’re going to be, and we’re preparing our kids for those jobs.”

To learn more about computer science education at LPS, visit our website at https://home.lps.org/cte/cs/. 

 

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