Thousands of GGUSD Students Learn to Code for Global Computer Science Event

Two young students on a tablet while an older student helps.

Thousands of Garden Grove Unified School District students from every grade level took to their devices last week to learn critical computer programming skills by participating in the “Hour of Code™,” a global initiative held during Computer Science Education Week, December 4-10.

“Our schools have really embraced the Hour of Code to give students another tool in their toolbox of computer skills which are so important in today’s technology-driven job market,” said Bob Harden, Board of Education president.  “There is no doubt that we are educating the next generation of computer engineers and this event helps students code their way into exciting futures.”

GGUSD students practiced logical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration during the Hour of Code, which is known as the largest learning event in history. The district’s Technology Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSAs) supported a variety of coding activities, including school-wide participation from every grade level at some campuses.  Hazard Elementary School sixth graders actually became the teachers as they taught kindergartners how to code Dash robots.

GGUSD has a robust computer science program and offers several computer science classes as well as a dedicated career pathway for Computer Science. Courses offered at Garden Grove, La Quinta, Pacifica, and Santiago high schools include Mobile Apps Development, 3D Printing Web Development, Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles, Robotics, UC Computer Science and Software Engineering, Video Game Design and Development, among others.

Seventh and eighth grade students are also exposed to computer science concepts through the district’s CTE (Career and Technical Education) STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) classes.  Many schools throughout the district offer after-school coding and robotics clubs.