Hour of Code at Tenderloin Community School

What difference does an hour make? It opens up a whole new world of possibilities to an elementary school kid.

Twitter employees went to the Tenderloin Community School in San Francisco to participate in Hour of Code 2016. Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Over two days, every child from kindergarten to 5th grade got to experience Hour of Code with adult support from Twitter employees.

Tenderloin Community School is a K-5th Grade public elementary school that was opened in 1998. This bright red and yellow elementary school brings hope and inspiration to this low-income, inner-city community and has staff that is dedicated to helping children reach their full potential in a positive learning environment. The school has a unique partnership with the Bay Area Women’s & Children’s Center (@BAWCC_org), which led the effort to get it built and continues to provide essential services to the students. Among these services is the Technology Program, through which the school-wide Hour of Code was organized.

“This was my first time organizing an Hour of Code and I was thrilled by the success of the event. Through the Bay Area Women’s & Children’s Center (BAWCC) Technology Program, the students of Tenderloin Community School receive lessons in technological literacy. However, it was the energy and enthusiasm of the teaching brought their engagement with technology to a whole new level. Having Twitter employees in their classrooms, working through coding challenges with them, really made the day special for the kids.”

The children were bright and eager to get started. Some were excited, chattering away and hollering when they finished a puzzle. Some worked with quiet diligence, heads down until they finished a coding challenge with a satisfied smile. Adults buzzed around the room answering questions, checking to see how the kids were doing.

Inspiring children to dream big dreams and have hope for the future is the greatest gift grown-ups can give. Hour of Code let’s every child feel empowered to write code and be a part of shaping the future of digital technologies and by extension, the future of their society.