LEWISTON — Students and their parents are invited to learn about the Lewiston School Department’s computer coding program Wednesday evening at Montello Elementary School.

The two-hour Learn to Code Night begins at 5 p.m. 

“It’s to let the community know, ‘Hey we got this great grant to help families understand what coding is, and to show that coding can help students in other subjects,’ Alicia Biggs, coding initiative coordinator for the Lewiston School Department, said.

Coding is a precise set of instructions given to a computer, similar to a recipe, telling it what to do, Biggs said. Students learning to write codes are doing “computational thinking” and how to troubleshoot, or solve problems.

Learn to Code Night will offer demonstrations and how-to lessons for different ages, including:

* A race between ozobots (small robots) for grades 3-6 in the cafeteria;

* Lego robotics for kindergarten and upper grades in the music room;

* Programming drones for eighth-graders and upper grades in the gym; and

* How to program Star Wars droids and design a game, for second-graders and those in upper grade in classroom B116.

No computer science experience is necessary. Technology teachers will lead the demonstrations. 

The School Department’s computer coding program is funded by a $300,000 grant from two successful technology leaders, David Roux and Corson Ellis.

After Roux graduated from Lewiston High School in 1974, and later from Harvard University, he became an entrepreneur, corporate executive “and financier who helped usher in the digital age,” according to The Jackson Laboratory profile. He is a trustee of the laboratory.

Ellis, known as Corky, founded Kepware Technologies and is chairman of the board at Maine Venture Fund.

Roux and Ellis will be at Wednesday’s event, Superintendent Bill Webster said.

The goal is to help every Lewiston student get coding and computer science experience, and increase their confidence in working with technology.

Benefits of learning coding include building skills in math and science, exposing students to careers in technology and helping those who aren’t interested in a computer science career.

“It would help them in any line of work” because it builds skills in thinking, math and science, Biggs said.

In grades kindergarten to six coding is being taught in science, technology, engineering and math classes, in the 21st Century after-school program at the middle school and at middle school clubs named Girls Who Code and Let’s Start Coding.

At the high school, Nate Jalbert’s classes on introduction to computer programming are full. Coding is also taught at the high school’s 21st Century after-school program.

The School Department has an 18-member Coding Committee that meets monthly to plan computer science programs. 

Maine has 929 open computing jobs, according to code.org, a nonprofit promoting student access to computer science learning. 

The average salary for a computing occupation in Maine is $79,127, compared to the average Maine salary of $45,300. Computer science drives job growth and is the No. 1 source of all new wages in the country, according to code.org. 

Students who learn computer science in high school are six times more likely to major in it. Few than half of U.S. schools offer any computer science programs. 

Alicia Biggs was hired in early 2018 as coding initiative coordinator for the Lewiston School Department. Her position was made possible by a grant from two successful technology businessmen. (Submitted photo)

A Lewiston High School student writes code for a cellphone app in a computer science and coding program. To show what’s being taught and how students could benefit, parents and students are invited to Learn to Code Night from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Montello Elementary School. (Submitted photo)

Maine currently has 929 open computing jobs, according to code.org, a non-profit promoting student access to computer science learning. 

The average salary for a computing occupation in Maine is $79,127, compared to the average Maine salary of $45,3000. Computer science drives job growth and is the No. 1 source of all new wages in the country, according to code.org. 

Students who learn computer science in high school are six times more likely to major in it. But fewer than half of United States schools offer any computer science programs.