Godwin Heights — It was a chilly Tuesday afternoon when a group of around 20 students gathered after school in a classroom at North Godwin Elementary to learn about “respawning” when building a video game.
Fourth-grader Jhenner Calderon demonstrated the process of reviving a character that has been defeated or destroyed.
“So, my character is walking on his platform and then falls off,” Jhenner said. “I set the coordinates in the code so that he will respawn back to his position at the top of the platform.”
The group is part of the school’s new after-school program, Code on Wheels Club, designed to provide students with an opportunity to learn about technology and coding in an interactive, hands-on way. The program is offered by the Grand Rapids-based nonprofit Code on Wheels, which is focused on providing STEM opportunities in communities that have been under-represented in those career fields.
Increasing STEM Opportunities
“We are always looking for ways to introduce students to STEM and STEM opportunities,” said Karen Baum, the school’s instructional specialist.
Baum said she learned about Code on Wheels through MiSTEM Network, which provided a grant for the program.
The school started a focus on science, technology, engineering and math in 2023 through an initiative aimed at introducing students to a variety of STEM-related experiences.This led to each of the building’s third through fifth grades participating in two STEM projects a year, in addition to a summer STEM camp.
After announcing the program, it only took a couple of weeks for its 20 slots to fill, Baum said, so a second class was offered on Thursdays for another 20 students. Both are taught by volunteer Alex Pena Gomez, a Grand Rapids Union High graduate who works as a coder for the Grand Rapids-based software company Aztech.
“My goal is, regardless of whether they go into coding or not, that they acquire some skills to help them develop plans and understand that workplaces have logical systems,” Gomez said.
Gomez guides students through the coding process as they create their own video games, using such programs as GDevelop and Compute It, and Type Racer to practice their keyboarding skills.
‘Build stuff’ and Be Creative
Fourth-grader Briany Moya developed a game called “Crazy Pez,” whose story follows a girl who discovers and moves into a castle. The game focuses on the girl as she explores the castle, and she recently became friends with a dinosaur, Briany said.
“It sounded interesting in that you can build stuff and make it into something creative,” Briany said about participating in the club.
Fourth-grader Alex Russell has taken the initiative to work independently and is now developing the second level of her game. She said that having a computer at home has made it possible. Since the coding programs used by the club are free, she’s been able to continue working on her game in her spare time.
“(Coding) just clicked with me,” Alex said. “I think it’s because it has been interesting to learn about how to develop and change characters, and learning about the technology behind it.”
Read more from Godwin Heights:
• Fifth-graders prepare for a STEM project with an animal visit
• Future teacher follows her dream to help students do the same
