A group of eager seventh graders at Heritage Grove Middle School have turned their passion for coding into a schoolwide opportunity for their classmates.
With guidance from Learning Specialist Carrie Offerman, Caio Beglet, Anas Matarieh, Virat Verma, and Marko Vityk designed and launched the school’s first coding challenge this fall, giving students a chance to test their problem-solving and programming skills in a fun, creative way.
The idea began after the veteran teacher, who previously led monthly math challenges, was encouraged by Principal Dean Kariotakis to explore coding as the next step.
“I put an announcement asking for students who like coding and creating, and instantly heard from four students,” Offerman said. “They took the idea and ran with it, building a website, tutorials, guidelines, and challenges for the entire school.”
“A coding challenge is essentially a contest to see who can create the best game based on the theme,” Beglet said.
The September challenge invited students to create their own digital game, and more than 50 students have joined the Google Classroom, with 18 projects already submitted.
The student leaders say the project has been both exciting and educational.
“A coding challenge is like a smaller hackathon,” Vityk said. “It’s a project where you make something with code and submit it.”
Vityk helped design the website and artwork. “I hope my classmates learn the basics of coding and see how fun it can be.”
Matarieh, who worked on both the front- and back-end development, said, “We’re learning teamwork, cooperation, and how to listen to user feedback.”
He hopes at least 70 students finish this challenge and take away real-world fundamentals.
Verma helped write the challenge instructions. “Coding builds patience and shows you there’s always another way to figure things out,” he said. “We want students to improve their coding skills, but also their ability to solve problems.”
Beglet also played a key role in shaping the project.
“Coding is exciting because you create, troubleshoot, and try again until it works,” he said. “It teaches teamwork, problem-solving, and public speaking. I hope my classmates see that coding is the future. Since we’ll do this monthly, it’s going to be fun.”
Offerman said the experience has been just as rewarding for the student leaders as for those participating.
“The four masterminds are learning how to work together, compromise, and grow as friends, while their classmates are gaining a first taste of coding,” she said. “Like our students remind us daily, it’s essential to always keep learning and never be afraid to try something new.”
The Heritage Grove Middle School coding challenge will continue monthly with new tasks and opportunities for students to stretch their creativity, problem-solving, and technical skills.