Peeples Elementary Teacher and Students Selected to Promote Georgia’s New Computer Science Program

Thirty-eight fifth grade enrichment students at Peeples Elementary got their camera debut all thanks to their teacher Dr. April DeGennaro who was selected to participate in a project created by the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) and the Georgia Public Broadcast Network (GPB). This project will use various videos to promote Georgia’s new Computer Science program in all high schools.
 
One might wonder, what do elementary students know about computer science? Well, these enrichment students know a lot as they have been learning computer science skills for the last three years and have been applying those skills through robotics lessons in DeGennaro’s class.
 
Ready for the debut, DeGennaro says, “My students are so excited that their hard work and effort to learn and apply computer science skills is being recognized.”
 
As the GPB crew filmed, students showed off their skills using gadgets, robots, coding programs, and computational thinking. The film crew also interviewed DeGennaro and her students about their experiences with computer science and its benefits. 
 
From teacher workshops to national conferences, these educational videos will be shown all across the state of Georgia.
 
In March 2018, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp passed a bill, which allows computer science courses available to all students statewide and will eventually require all high schools to implement computer science into the classroom.
 
Peeples principal Buffy Blodgett says, “We are so excited to help grow the exciting new discipline of Computer Science in Georgia schools!”