Seriously, I Learned to Code in High School!
Turbo Pascal with Sister Joan Marie
While some school districts are discussing whether to bring Computer Programming into their core curriculum, I learned to code at SVA (Saint Vincent’s Academy). My first programming course was taught using Pascal! Actually, it was Turbo Pascal because we did have a compiler. We learned basic programming structures like how to define variables, if-then-else statements, how to print statements on the screen and more.
I started my Computer Programming class in 1984 with Sister Joan Marie. She also taught Physics. Between Sr. Joan Marie and Sr. Arlene (she taught all of my Math courses), I was with them most of my time during high school. We all remembered Sr. Joan Marie fondly as she was the one who ran off all the boys from the school who were trying to visit or sneak on campus. :-) My father sent me there for one reason and for one reason only; No Boys! He and Sr. Joan Marie probably worked something out while I was in school. Little did they both realize back then that SVA and my Programming class would really shape my life.A Catholic school for girls and its roots embedded in the Catholic tradition, but
I absolutely didn’t realize how progressive we were in our education.
I follow SVA students and what their doing in sports, academically, even an article in South Magazine, “Behind The Gates With The Sisters Of Mercy.” The printed version has a very lengthy article. I recently visited their sites just to check out their academics and found that they offer 2 Computer courses; a basic introduction to computers and a web design course. I was hoping for a more advance computer course that really teaches you programming structures and a logic. I would have thought they would be teaching Java by now. But, as private school and with 80% of the tuition going toward keeping up with the facilities and maintenance, it’s hard to even get qualified teachers to actually teach Java. Additionally, that’s the debate, what type of computer course is suitable or would impact high school students enough to encourage them into computing or other STEM fields?
Computer Science in High School
The debate continues as educators, school districts, curriculum designers and educational “experts” determine if Computer Science belongs in high school core curriculum. If I remember correctly, we had a good number of students taking Turbo Pascal with Sr. Joan Marie. The interest was certainly there and it helped us in our other classes too. How?
- Helped us become better readers. When our programs didn’t work, we had to go back and read each line to find out where the problem was coming from.
- If our program had a problem, then we have to learn why it didn’t work the way we coded it, then figure out a way to fix it. Very helpful in my Math and Physics classes because problems had multiple solutions.
- Programming also helped our writing. With most languages, it’s about syntax, but when we were designing our program, we used a lot of pseudo code. This helped us understand what we really wanted to do with the program.
I could go on. Programming helped us think, become better problem solvers, find our creativity and keep us grounded with foundational skills that would definitely help us in other courses and beyond. So what’s the big hold up? If you haven’t programmed or not part of the Tech scene, you wonder why there is this incredible initiative to bring Computer Science to high school. To me, this is simple. Everything we use on a daily basis is a computer program. From the chip in your phone, the dashboard in your cars, the sliding doors at the grocery store, cash registers, light switch, TVs, stove, refrigerator, those fancy thermometers at the doctor’s office, and the list goes on. All of these things involve STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), more particularly, programming. Innovation is here and getting bolder. We should at least understand how things work before we try to improve them or make ideas into reality. Not everyone needs to be a programmer, but there is incredible benefit to the science.
How Do I Affect Change?
Back to SVA and programming, together they shaped my future. Right after college, I started my career as a programmer and cycled through the Tech industry in research, business analysis, project management and currently, helping inspire and connect women in computing by way of Systers and Anita Borg Institute. It was my calling. I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can help the next generation understand the benefits of computer science and the many opportunities in the field.
First, with my own children (teenagers) that are just starting their college lives, they have the personal opportunity to be exposed to programming early. They were always asking me questions about what I do and they started using computers very early, so they are true techies in that sense. Secondly, CS EdWeek (Computer Science Education Week) is December 8-14,2014 and I am planning to visit schools in under served communities and talk about CS careers. It’s part of the “One Hour of Code” initiative associated with CS EdWeek. Third, I teach middle school girls every summer in something fun like web site design. Getting their feet wet in basic HTML and exposed to changing the web with Webmaker. I definitely want to pass along the many opportunities that college students can get involved in now through programs they may not be informed about.
I’ve always been and will continue to be an advocate for women, underrepresented minorities, people with disabilities and from under served communities in STEM fields. The opportunities are not only about innovation, but economic empowerment through jobs and entrepreneurship.
Are you bought into the idea of CS in high school yet?
