“There is a nationwide lack of computing curriculum in middle and high schools,” says Charles Wallace, associate professor of computer science. “I saw this gap locally and several years ago I started to teach some free after-school coding classes at Houghton Middle School, where my son was attending.”
“In programming, perseverance is more important than super smarts,” says Wallace. “It’s about problem-solving and getting through that process. When it works, when students understand that this is something they can do, it’s super exciting to them. Copper Country Coders gives youth a low-stakes, fun opportunity to get some programming experience and offers a broader view of how computer science fits in with life and the kinds of career options that are out there.”
Wallace conducted the classes on his own for a couple of years, then computer science faculty member Leo Ureel got involved. “We wanted to help students over a barrier of perception that computer science and robotics is something only ‘brainiacs’ can do,” Ureel says.
Soon, Wallace and Ureel started recruiting Michigan Tech students to instruct the youth classes. “Giving Tech students the opportunity to work as educators is as important a goal as teaching the middle and high school students,” Wallace notes. Now, with Wallace and Ureel as advisors, the Tech students are fully in charge of the program, from identifying the classes they’ll teach to drawing up lesson plans and conducting the classes to end-of-semester reflections about how they can improve the classes in the next semester.
Jacob Wysko ’24, a geospatial engineering major with a minor in computer science, has been a Copper Country Coders instructor for two years. “It has been an extremely rewarding experience teaching a subject I’m passionate about to an eager group of students,” he says. “I’ve gained more education and leadership skills by having taken on this opportunity, and I have contributed to computer science education in our area.”
Computer Science major Laura Albrant participated in CC Coders for three years, last year as president of the student organization. “Being a part of Coders meant a lot to me,” she says. “It taught me the value of patience and positive reinforcement, and I felt like I was giving back to the local community. I also made many friends with the fellow student leaders/teachers.”
Albrant loved teaching the Copper Country Coders classes, as she could teach what she wanted to teach and make it fun. “The more fun the kids had, the more fun I could have,” she says. “It was also extremely satisfying when a student would correct my own programming mistakes, made either on purpose or by accident. To me, that meant they were learning, paying attention, and comfortable enough to call me out.”