Code Corps: Bringing Coding to Communities
The partnership between Google, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and AmeriCorps seeks to increase access to computer science for youth nationwide
By My Nguyen
Imagine a program that enables and empowers young people to code their way out of poverty — a program that seeks to transform the lives of young people through computer science education.
Imagine a program run entirely by volunteers that impacts more than 300 underserved youth in South San Francisco, and thousands more across U.S. seven cities.
Through a partnership between The Boys & Girls Clubs of America, AmeriCorps (the domestic-facing arm of the Peace Corps), and Google, such a program exists. It’s called Google Code Corps.
In 2015, the three organizations announced that they were coming together to launch Google Code Corps, a program designed to increase access to computer science education across the country.
Michael Tecson and Preston Chan are members of the second class of AmeriCorps VISTAs (Volunteers in Service to America) trained to facilitate Google’s CS First curriculum — which uses Scratch — and other technology experiences for Boys & Girls Clubs members across the United States.
“Officially, we are Google Code Corps Specialists. We manage the program in North San Mateo County. We do everything from fundraising and event-planning to recruiting and managing volunteers and staff. We also promote the program and report metrics to Google, AmeriCorps, and, of course, The Boys & Girls Clubs,” Preston said. “Sustainability is one of our goals.”
Prior to joining the Google Code Corps program, neither Michael nor Preston had experience with Scratch or programming in general. Yet a year later, both consider themselves Scratch advocates and enthusiasts.
The Scratch Foundation recently spoke to Michael and Preston to learn more about their Google Code Corps experiences.
How did each of you get involved with the AmeriCorps VISTA program?
Preston Chan: Right after college, I took some project management internships, but I didn’t really feel like I was making an impact in the community. Like many people I know, when I graduated, I said I wanted to make the world a better place. When I was on the job hunt again, I decided to put my money where my mouth was. When I saw this opportunity with the Google Code Corps program, I thought it could be a good stepping stone. I also felt like it was a good way to give back to the community. I was actually born and raised in North San Mateo county — this is my hometown.
Michael Tecson: Before I joined AmeriCorps VISTA, I helped kickstart a video game museum in Oakland, a new location, called the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment. Once the museum opened, I ended up doing fundraising and outreach for their weekend Scratch classes. As a small non-profit, there weren’t a lot of hours for me. When I saw the AmeriCorps listing with Google and the Boys & Girls Clubs, it seemed like a great next step in terms of the amount of impact I could have on kids’ lives.
What were your experiences with Scratch, or with programming in general, prior to joining Google Code Corps?
MT: Almost zero. I’d seen Scratch before — I knew of Scratch, but I didn’t have any experience programming with it.
PC: I had absolutely zero experience before this opportunity. I hadn’t taken any computer science classes; I didn’t really even know computer science was a subject until halfway through college. When I first started, I had no idea what Scratch or CS First was.
Can you describe your first experiences with Scratch? What was it like to program for the first time?
PC: When I first opened up Scratch and looked at the home page, I thought it looked really fun. I started by playing games. I think I played a pong game. I thought to myself, “This is really cool.” After that, I jumped into the Google CS First curriculum and went through it as our students do.
MT: It was the same for me. I started by playing other people’s games on Scratch. The first project I played was a recreation of this one mobile game, Super Hexagon. It was super cool — almost a perfect recreation. I took a look at the code with the “See Inside” feature and became a bit intimidated because it looked crazy! I turned to the CS First material and started messing around with some lessons, and realized it was way less intimidating than I thought.
So you’re at the Boys & Girls Club as Google Code Corps Specialists, and you have the CS First curriculum to engage kids with coding. How was the program introduced?
MT: This is not true for every Google Code Corps location, but when we first started, the program was mostly opt-in. The kids learned about the program during an all-kid meeting held at the club. For a lot of kids, we just asked, “Do you want to learn how to make a video game?” The response was “Yeah, man!”
What does the program look like week to week? Do kids work on a single project or theme each week?
PC: Typically, we offer the session once a week. We do have some sites where the demand is a little bit higher, and we run the program up to three times a week at those locations. It’s really their choice whether or not they want to participate. The kids can opt-in whenever they want, so everyone is working on different themes at different stages of the curriculum. They can go through the curriculum at their own pace.
MT: We do start them on the simpler themes. Once they’re done, they move on to more advanced activities. They all eventually loop around all of the different themes based on their interests. Some kids will complete all of the themes we offer — animation, art, fashion, friends, game design, music and sound, social media, sports, and storytelling. Some are only interested in two or three topics. Preston and I encourage them to create their own original projects: “You know a lot of the basics already — why don’t you make your own Pokemon Go game? Or try recreating that other game you keep talking about?”
What challenges have you faced?
PC: Fundraising has been a challenge. We spent our first couple months establishing the program — raising money to get it off the ground. Some of our Boys & Girls Clubs didn’t have any technology resources, so we had to raise enough money to buy Chromebooks, headphones, microphones, and things like that. Many times, people will see Google and assume that they’re paying for everything. Recruiting volunteers can also be difficult, because we want to be sure we’re putting them in positions where everyone can be successful.
What purpose do the volunteers serve during these sessions?
MT: Immediately, the volunteers act as trouble shooters. We encourage them not to give the kids the answers, but rather to sit down and work on problems together. We also show them how to look for signs that kids are struggling, but maybe too shy to ask for help.
PC: They’re also there to inspire the kids. A big role of a volunteer actually occurs outside of the classroom. We ask volunteers to come in before and after their session shifts so that they can interact with the kids — play with them, do homework with them — so that when they get to the computer lab, it doesn’t feel like a school class.
What kind of opportunities related to coding or computer science exist for the kids you work with? Is this something that’s happening in schools?
PC: Some of our older kids do get exposed to it in middle school. With elementary level students, it’s a bit more rare, at least in our populations. They may have heard of Scratch. Maybe they’ve done it once at school, but that’s all they know about it.
MT: We have a handful of kids who interact with the Internet mostly through their phones. They didn’t know what a browser was — or tabs. They did’t know how to “right click.” At the same time, there are some kids who are very experienced. They already know the basics, so they blaze through the lessons and themes. We like the classes to be more kid-driven — they can start wherever they feel most comfortable.
Given the personalized approach and pacing, is there room for collaboration on projects?
PC: There’s definitely room for collaboration. We encourage kids to share their projects with others, but that’s going to happen regardless of what we tell them. Someone will build a game or animation, and all of the other kids will want to see it.
Can you share any favorite stories or moments from the past year?
PC: We have a fifth-grade member named Faith. Initially, she was totally against even going into the computer room — she was against coding. She said that it was for boys, it wasn’t her thing. At one point, she said that coding was “super boring.” Eventually, I convinced her to try it by showing her the projects that the other kids were creating. She tried Scratch once and was immediately hooked. She started with music first — that’s the one that really resonated with her. From then on, Faith always came in when she had the opportunity. She completely changed her perception of coding and of herself.
MT: There’s another kid named Jonathan, who loved CS First right away. We start our sessions with “Block of the Day” where we hold up a Scratch block and ask the kids what it does. He is always super excited to raise his hand and answer. He works in a group with two other kids, and they all work on projects together. Right now, they’re working on Pokemon projects.
Recently, I received an email from one of the Boys & Girls Clubs staff members about Jonathan. She’d asked him how things were going, and he just started talking about CS First and Scratch, and what he was creating. Her email basically said, “Hey, when did this start happening? When he first came to the club, he almost never spoke. He didn’t really talk to other kids. He didn’t talk to staff members. He was one of quietest, most shy members.” To me, this was funny, because the only Jonathan I’ve known is this really excitable, talkative kid who loves programming with Scratch. It was probably that moment when I thought to myself, “We are having an impact here, even if we don’t necessarily see it all of the time.”
What has surprised you about this experience?
MT: I was expecting computer science to have a much more limited appeal than it actually does. That perception may have come from conversations I’ve had with friends who say, “Oh, yeah, I’d do it for a high-paying job, but I wouldn’t do it for fun.” I was expecting a similar attitude from kids. I really underestimated their curiosity for it. Their appetite for programming is huge. That was very surprising for me.
Another surprise — programmer burnout is a real thing, even if you’re 10-years-old. [laughs] Encourage kids to pace themselves.
What do you hope the kids in the club will have gained from these experiences with Scratch? What do you want them to know?
MT: Depending on their age, these kids might not know what decimals are; they might not know what x and y coordinates are. So, this programming class is actually one of their first exposures to these math concepts. I hope they can apply these concepts in school. More long term — I want them to look at computer science as something fun. I don’t want them to feel like some my friends, who find computer science intimating or only think of it in terms of a career. I want them to see that computer science helps you to think analytically and logically.
PC: I want them to know that computer science is something that everybody can at least introduce themselves to — it’s not intimidating. It’s actually pretty fun! Ultimately, we know that not all these kids will become programmers or engineers, but what we want them to take away is that problem solving and the mechanics of trouble-shooting and bug-fixing can be applied to almost any aspect of their lives.
My Nguyen is Communications Specialist for the Scratch Foundation.
To support or learn more about the Google Code Corps program at the Boys & Girls Club in North San Mateo County, visit the Club’s GoFundMe page.
