Students at Eagle Crest Elementary School will begin the 2022-2023 school year embarking on a new and exciting opportunity – they are one of 500 educational organizations that have been chosen to be a part of the second cohort of the Scratch Education Collaborative (SEC), and are the only organization from Colorado. The SEC is a two-year program that supports and works toward creating sustainable practices to engage students in equitable creative coding.

Eagle Crest’s focus is to bring more creative coding opportunities to students, connect creative coding opportunities to their leadership focus program, and build new relationships with the international creative community.

“Participation in this cohort will have a positive impact on student learning through the culminating project; a self-sustaining program to increase creative coding opportunities for all students,” shared Katy Schwirtz, Leadership Focus Coordinator and Innovation Garage Teacher at Eagle Crest.

The SEC will allow students to be better prepared to pursue the many computer science pathways available to them at the middle and high school level in St. Vrain, and will give students the probability to use coding while developing their leadership skills, and leverage coding to help build a better world.

For Schwirtz, she’s most looking forward to, is the positive impact this cohort will have on their students. “I am excited to learn all I can about the best way to integrate more creative coding in a sustainable way at Eagle Crest, and I am looking forward to collaborating with the Scratch Education team and others from around the world.”

Eagle Crest will be an asset to this cohort “because we have a passion for the power of creative coding in the hands of children,” shared Schwirtz. “We have a diverse community of learners, and the support of administrators and teachers who are always up for a new adventure that supports students’ success.”