Fourth Graders Emojyfy Themselves for National S.T.E.M. Day

On November 8, for National S.T.E.M. Day, Fourth Graders at Villa recently worked on a coding project to “Emojyfy” themselves with Mrs. Bellopede, Villa’s S.T.E.M. Teacher. The project was a Computer Science extension for their Personal Narrative project in ELA.

The girls coded personal emoji’s using Made w/Code.com, a Google site written by women for women to increase awareness and spark interest in STEM. They used blockly code to snap pieces of code together. They then learned how to use the x and y coordinates to change the position of objects on our work plane. They learned that changing the x value moves objects left and right, while changing the y value moves objects up and down.

“Not only did we have fun, but we learned that coding is for everyone!” said Mrs. Bellopede.

With science and engineering careers growing 70 percent faster than other occupations, the ultimate goal of introducing S.T.E.M. concepts to kids is to encourage students to take an interest in these subjects at an early age. Schools across the country are already increasing the focus on these subjects to help our nation’s youth gain the skills required to succeed in today’s challenging economic climate.

Villa Maria Academy integrates technology to inspire girls to collaborate, innovate and prepare for their educational journey as well as a world not yet realized.