Although many CodeWizardsHQ students get interested in coding because their parents work in a tech-related field, Ben discovered his passion for coding and engineering all on his own. Now he’s even using his coding skills for outside projects.

Engineering, Robotics, and Coding

Ben has had an interest in STEM-related fields for a long time, starting with taking apart Nerf guns and rebuilding them and making complex LEGO creations. Then he started watching web development videos on YouTube, which inspired him to want to learn how to code. That’s when his mom, Dawn, discovered CodeWizardsHQ.

“We live in an area where we homeschool, and so when I was looking for a program it was important for me to have a program that went all the way through high school and he would keep learning skills,” she says. “With CodeWizardsHQ, I was really impressed that it had middle school and high school and that there’s a project at the end when he is finished taking all the coursework that he can do to show other people what he’s learned. That was something that I realized is important to colleges, but it’s also important that he gets to use his skills on other things, too.”

Ben has been customizing his CodeWizardsHQ projects from the beginning, always going the extra mile to add his own touches, even when that involves researching skills he hasn’t learned in class yet. 

That’s why when his robotics team talked about wanting to create a website for the team, Ben decided to tackle it as a summer project.

“I thought it’d be a fun and interesting project to add on to what we already had, because I had a pretty nice base. So I just went ahead, and I did most of lesson 12’s homework without even knowing it on lesson 11. I got all those pages together and then just kept on working on it for fun because I thought it actually turned out really nice.”

Ben kept the website project a secret from just about everyone, including his mom, until it was ready to show to his teammates. The website he built is now the official website for his team (check it out at the end of the page).

STEM For School and Fun

Although CodeWizardsHQ is part of Ben’s high school homeschool curriculum, he does so much extra coding that he considers it a hobby, too. His other main activity outside of schooling is robotics. Although he’s been learning coding since middle school, Ben is actually a builder on the team.

“I’ve definitely thought about becoming a coder on robotics, but I really want to do building because then I’ll have a good understanding of both, so it means that I’ll be able to add input when I go to college and future job opportunities in both aspects,” he says.

Dawn admits that she was hoping Ben would use his coding skills on his robotics team after seeing what he’s accomplished through CodeWizardsHQ, but she still sees the benefits he has as a builder. 

“What I’ve realized is that he actually is able to use what he’s learned about coding from CodeWizards in his building. He’s able to communicate with the other coders about what they can do with the servos and the other robotics parts in ways that the other builders who don’t know how to program cannot do. I think that that’s a skill that will help him if he wants to be an engineer.”

Quality Instructors Make the Difference

It’s easy to see Ben’s passion and enthusiasm for coding and robotics, and as a homeschooling mom, Dawn sees the benefits for her son in other subjects, too.

“The research he’s done for his coding projects has carried on to how he does research in other classes and it’s something that has really helped him. It’s been fun to watch him learn these research skills without me having to sit down and formally show him how to do it. You give him hints and he just goes for it. He wants to find the answers to his questions himself now.”

Although the ongoing curriculum is what drew Dawn to CodeWizardsHQ for her son, ultimately what she raves about the most now are the teachers.

“I’ve been really impressed with the teachers that he’s had. As a homeschool mom, I’m kind of picky about that, because I was a teacher in my past life, so that’s the biggest thing. The best part is to watch his skills build upon each other and then for him to want to go above and beyond to learn more. He’ll ask questions and the teachers will always give him hints, but they never do it for him. The teachers are there to guide him, but they don’t do it for him and he has learned those skills that are important in any career.”

Ben’s most recent teacher, Lynn, has nothing but glowing things to say about him as a student as well.

It’s an absolute pleasure to be Ben’s teacher! Ben is kind, very enthusiastic, and inquisitive. He is in a private class, so we have time to explore the reasons why we’re writing code in a certain way. We often review alternatives, and make additions and enhancements to lesson projects. It is not rare for class to end with both of us saying, ‘That was fun!’

Lynn, CodeWizardsHQ

Ben’s Standout Projects:

Robotics Team Website

Who Is This Game

Star Vaders

At CodeWizardsHQ, Our Students Are Our Top Priority.

We are lucky to have Ben and his family as a part of our community!

Level up your child’s learning experience. Take a coding class with CodeWizardsHQ:
Elementary School Coding Program, Middle School Coding Program, High School Coding Program

The post Student Spotlight: Ben F. appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Jackson’s dream is to work for Nintendo, so when his parents were looking to supplement his virtual schooling, they decided coding classes would be a good fit. Now Jackson is several courses into the CodeWizardsHQ elementary program and he’s even starting to teach his friends some basics.

Supplementing Virtual Schooling

When Jackson’s school went virtual at the beginning of the pandemic, his parents were concerned he wasn’t getting the same amount of instructional time in the transition. They wanted to find an extracurricular activity to challenge him that was still something he’d enjoy. That’s when they found CodeWizardsHQ.

“He always talked about building video games and at the time he was really into Minecraft, so I knew this would be perfect,” says Jackson’s mom, Amy. “Me and him had a discussion, and he really wants to work for Nintendo one day and I said, ‘if you want to work with Nintendo, you better start now.’ At the end of the day, if he doesn’t go into game design or anything like that, there’s going to be a technology aspect that this could be beneficial for in the future.”

Jackson really enjoyed learning how to make games in Scratch and has now progressed to programming with JavaScript and Python. His parents also appreciated the time that Jackson got before class to interact with his classmates, especially when his school was virtual.

“I know it’s very minor, but I think just having the 15 minutes before class like where everyone’s logging on and they can just chat about anything, especially when he wasn’t getting a lot of interaction,” says Amy. “It was just great that he could talk to other kids that were interested in coding, because we’re in a rural area where coding is not pushed, so I think sometimes he doesn’t have a lot of people like peers to talk to about this type of stuff.”

Sharing His Coding Skills

After showing his friends some of the games he made in his CodeWizardsHQ classes, Jackson had the opportunity to teach his classmates in virtual school a little bit of Scratch.

“In third grade – it was a virtual class – I taught people how to use Scratch to launch a rocket,” he says. “Someone told me right after that they started using ScratchJr. I thought it was pretty cool because he made a game that was like Among Us but with ducks.”

Now that school is back to in-person classes, Jackson’s principal has asked him to share his coding skills even more.

“His principal is really involved with the kids and he was asking the other day for me to send the link to one of Jackson’s projects because he wanted to see it,” says Amy. ”He said, ‘we’re going to start teaching coding in the school system’ – they teach basic stuff – ‘and I’d love for Jackson to come down and maybe help and do some of that stuff.’”

Outside of school and CodeWizardsHQ, Jackson enjoys playing video games and reading. He’s also started showing his younger sister some coding basics.

“I taught her how to do the rocket thing in Scratch, and she wanted me to show her more once she got her own Scratch account,” he says.

For Jackson’s parents, they’ve enjoyed seeing how far he’s come already with his coding skills and they like that he can stick with CodeWizardsHQ through high school. They can see the benefits and that kids really need to learn to code.

“I really liked the idea that it started off kind of slow, in a good way, but then it accelerates really fast. He’s learning things that I didn’t see as quickly in other programs’ curriculum,” says Amy. “That was important because he really loved Scratch, but I told him you’ve got to graduate from it. Looking back, one reason I went with CodeWizards was because I liked the idea that it was mapped out where it went all the way into high school. We wanted to make sure we picked a program that he’s not going to grow out of.” 

Jackson’s current CodeWizardsHQ teacher not only recognizes his coding skills, but loves his enthusiasm in class.

Jackson is one of the most enthusiastic and hard working coders I’ve ever met. He’s always the first to volunteer, answer questions, and always seem to be an exercise ahead of the class. He has a super bright future ahead of him if he keeps it up.

Alan Shoiket, CodeWizardsHQ Teacher

Jackson’s Standout Projects:

Shop Project

Space Game

Finding Nemo

At CodeWizardsHQ, Our Students Are Our Top Priority.

We are lucky to have Jackson and his family as a part of our community!

Interested in learning to code this summer? 
See our summer classes and coding camps for kids.

Level up your child’s learning experience. Take a coding class with CodeWizardsHQ:
Elementary School Coding Program, Middle School Coding Program, High School Coding Program

The post Student Spotlight: Jackson J. appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Myles’s parents wanted him to find an extracurricular activity he loved, but sports just didn’t hold his interest. Then they decided to lean into his love of electronics, which led them to CodeWizardsHQ. Myles has been having a blast ever since!

Branching Out with Homeschooling

Myles’s mom, Nancy, started homeschooling in 2020, which was the perfect opportunity to start looking into new educational opportunities for Myles. She saw the benefits of learning to code and the reasons why it would be a great fit for Myles.

“I wanted to incorporate curriculum that was different than what he was accustomed to, and in my research I really liked that CodeWizardsHQ had a program that graduated him all the way through high school,” she says.

It was a natural fit for Myles, who loves to play video games and wants to design video games when he grows up. Starting with learning Scratch in our elementary program, he loved making his own games and animations and has now progressed to learning Python.

Although Nancy initially went with CodeWizardsHQ because of the curriculum, what she’s been most impressed with since Myles started classes has been his teachers.

“I listen to some of the classes sometimes and he’s had three teachers so far and they’re so patient, especially with 9 and 10-year-olds,” she says. “What I like the most is how they can have a technical brain, but they also understand different personalities within the class. They’re able to get the fullest potential out of each different kind of student.”

Bonding Over Coding

When he’s not doing schoolwork or in his CodeWizardsHQ class, Myles enjoys doing what a lot of kids his age like – playing video games, watching YouTube videos, and playing with his dog. He also has two older siblings who are both in college. Coding has turned out to be a bonding point for Myles and his older brother.

“One day during his coding class I was catching up with his brother who’s at college, and his brother is taking his first coding class ever in college,” says Nancy. “He was telling me all about CSS and Myles gets done with his coding class and comes in and he hears me talking to his brother, so they start talking about CSS and they’re both learning the same thing together. That just kind of blows my mind that I’ve got a 19 year old in college learning the same content that my 10 year old is learning here at home.”

Although she doesn’t have a background in coding, seeing Myles excel in his classes and be able to share a common experience with his older brother has reinforced Nancy’s decision to enroll with CodeWizardsHQ.

“The curriculum builds on itself so that whenever they graduate into these more advanced platforms, it’s going to be easy for them. There is work to do outside of the class as well, but that repetition is so good for the kids. And did I already say that the teachers are awesome? It blows my mind how they can be so good at the technology piece and then also so good with their soft skills with the kids.”

Myles and his mom have obviously had a great experience with CodeWizardsHQ teachers, and his teacher loves having Myles in class, too! Here’s what his current teacher, Alan, had to say about him as a student.

Not only is Myles one of the smartest students I’ve seen his imagination, creativity, and his sense of humor truly brighten every single class.

Alan Shoiket, CodeWizardsHQ Teacher

Myle’s Standout Projects:

Movie Quiz

Comic Book Project

Newspaper Project

At CodeWizardsHQ, Our Students Are Our Top Priority.

We are lucky to have Myles and his family as a part of our community!

Interested in learning to code this summer? 
See our summer classes and coding camps for kids.

Level up your child’s learning experience. Take a coding class with CodeWizardsHQ:
Elementary School Coding Program, Middle School Coding Program, High School Coding Program

The post Student Spotlight: Myles P. appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

When Goldie and her family were living in Dubai, coding was part of her regular school curriculum. After moving back to Canada, her mom wanted her to be able to continue with her coding journey. That’s when she found CodeWizardsHQ, which has helped Goldie discover a true passion for coding.

An International Move

Goldie and her mom, Olya, lived in Dubai for nearly 10 years and Olya loved seeing how much her daughter excelled with her computer science classes.

“She was doing extremely well there, even having 95 percent on the subject achievement and her teacher told me that she was doing very well and she’s a natural in certain ways.”

They moved back to Canada last summer and Olya discovered that computer science wasn’t as much of a focus at Goldie’s new school. That’s when she turned to Google to find additional coding resources for her daughter. She chose CodeWizardsHQ because she liked all the positive parent reviews and our transparency with keeping parents informed about what is taught in each class.

“We’ve been happy and I like that classes are small and her teachers follow up. If there is a question, there is always an answer,” she says.

Inspiration from the Big Screen

From Goldie’s perspective, her interest in coding was sparked from movies and video games.

“As cliche as it may appear, I think the reason why I really got into coding was because of superhero films and video games. You know, I see R2D2 on the screen and think, I want to code something like that. I want to have this tiny little droid running around behind me being able to execute so many different commands,” she says. “However, it also came from everyone’s favorite game, Minecraft. I was watching this one YouTuber and she kept having all these mod packs that basically enhance your game and I was really curious on how they code it.”

Although Goldie already had some experience with programming fundamentals and Python thanks to her previous school, she wasn’t long into our high school program before she was being introduced to new concepts.

“I think the first two or three lessons were really easy because they were concepts I’d already had a good foundation on, but then the next few courses I was just amazed. It was the slot machine that we were making that was really fascinating, because we covered the random function in my previous school, but here we really went deep into it. I really like how this course has an opportunity to dive deeper and explore more in-depth about how everything kind of connects together.”

Having recently completed her second coding class at CodeWizardsHQ, Goldie already has some favorite projects, including the pixel art project (a consistent favorite among students) and the rock paper scissors game.

“With the rock paper scissors one, instead of doing your typical ‘rock, paper, scissors, shoot’ I decided to take this pop cultural reference and make it five choices. So I had to ensure that it all adds up and debugging it to make sure each and every option ran properly was really interesting and fun.” 

Creative Hobbies for an Analytical Mind

Goldie describes herself as very academic with an analytical side, but many of her hobbies outside of school involve being very creative. She’s been playing piano for over five years and recently started learning guitar and painting. With the move to Canada, she’s also embraced some common regional sports.

“While we are living in Dubai, there was not really much exposure to ice and snow, so mostly what she was doing there for sports was swimming and stuff like that,” explains Olya. “When we came back here, all the kids were skiing and skating. They have an excellent program, so I suggested figure skating.” 

“I was like, let’s go for it! You only live once!” adds Goldie.

With so many interests and hobbies, Goldie even used her coding knowledge to save a little time on her math homework.

“At the beginning of the year we were doing this fractions decimal unit with indices and my math teacher sent us four pages of homework. So I thought, why not take 10 minutes to make this little piece of code to help me solve the questions.”

While many teens are pressured to worry about college and career, Goldie is focusing on experiencing as much as she can now and taking one day at a time.

“I’m kind of trying not to worry too much about the future that much, because if I get so obsessed about what will happen in the future, I’m gonna miss out on what’s happening now. So I’m just trying to experience a lot, try out as many hobbies as possible, read a lot. But career-wise, as long as I have an opportunity to make a change and really work on something that would leave an impact, I think I’d like that.”

Goldie’s teacher, Jaures, loves her creative spirit with her projects and her mischievous sense of humor during class.

Goldie is a creative mastermind/troll! When she wasn’t customizing her websites with crazy colors and anime backgrounds, she was finding creative ways to Rickroll the unsuspecting user!

Jaures Ade, CodeWizardsHQ Teacher

Goldie’s Standout Projects:

Movie Quiz

Newspaper Project

Slideshow Website

At CodeWizardsHQ, Our Students Are Our Top Priority.

We are lucky to have Goldie and her family as a part of our community!

Interested in learning to code this summer? 
See our summer classes and coding camps for kids.

Level up your child’s learning experience. Take a coding class with CodeWizardsHQ:
Elementary School Coding Program, Middle School Coding Program, High School Coding Program

The post Student Spotlight: Goldie H. appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Coding for elementary school students in our core track starts off with the block-based programming language Scratch so they can learn coding fundamentals first before getting into syntax rules with text-based languages. We always encourage students to make projects their own, and we’re constantly amazed at their creativity. Below you’ll find a few games and animations where students really went the extra mile to put their own spin on the assignment.

Diffuse the Bomb Game by Sebastian

In addition to adding a lot more steps to diffuse the bomb, Sebastian recorded his own sounds for the game. It also turns into a memory game when you have to remember the correct order of the wires as you keep replaying.

The Great Max by Angelene

The story project in our Animation and Games with Scratch course offers lots of opportunities for students to really get creative, but Angelene really went the extra mile with her story. Find out where the teleportation spell sends Max and how he turns the tables at the end!

Create Your Own Robot by Gavin

This is another project from our Animation and Games with Scratch course, where students create their own character. To really make this his own, not only did Gavin choose a robot for his character, but he drew his own options for the head, body, arms, and legs.

The Story of the Girl and the Witch by Victoria

Another story project, which shows just how different each student’s project can look even with the same assignment. Victoria added in an intro screen, a cut screen, and an ending screen to her story to make it uniquely hers. 

The post Standout Scratch Projects From Our Students appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Although Elora started with CodeWizardsHQ at the request of her dad, she ended up discovering a whole new passion. As a high school senior, her newfound interest in coding is influencing her upcoming choice of college major.

A Family Decision

Both Elora and her younger sister are homeschooled and ultimately their parents decided they should incorporate coding into their homeschool curriculum.

“I wanted them to get a taste of what could be done in the realm of computer programming,” says Elora’s dad, Glen. “I’m a web developer and have been programming for 20 something years, and it’s earned me a good living. I have seen them get involved in other things in the past that have told me they would really love this. When they played Minecraft they would get into all the redstone stuff and they would spend hours watching videos and learning. I was thinking, you gotta learn how to program, you would love this!”

Elora’s parents ultimately chose CodeWizardsHQ because of the structured curriculum and enrolled both her and her sister. Although it started with her dad, it didn’t take long for Elora to fall in love with coding.

“I had never really been exposed to it before and I just found that I really enjoyed doing it and it just quickly became something that I loved, especially after I started the Web Dev class,” she says.

Soon Elora and her sister were staying up late at night working on their CodeWizardsHQ projects together.

“Since they both got in at the same time, one of the things that they loved doing with every single assignment is trying to find a way to exceed the requirements of the assignment,” says Glen. “And they just kept this competition going back and forth between them and staying up at one o’clock in the morning trying to top each other. They’re pulling in stuff that they haven’t even dealt with yet. It’s been fun to watch that level of excitement.”

From Graphic Design to Computer Science

Before starting her first CodeWizardsHQ class last year, Elora planned on majoring in graphic design in college, specifically for animation.

“The dream for a long time been to get into the animation industry and to be the one bringing those stories to life. I have a lot of story ideas of my own that I’d like to be able to bring to life on the television screen as well.”

With her experience coding, though, Elora is leaning more towards a computer science major and sees how it can help her get to her ultimate dream job.

“Some of the software and programs that you use for animation actually involve some coding. And since I’ve been doing this class, the idea of becoming a programmer as my job has been kind of appealing, because the thought of making programs for a living would be amazing.”

Outside of schoolwork and CodeWizardsHQ projects, Elora enjoys drawing, painting, cooking, and baking. She’s also a big gamer, especially story-driven role play games, and is the game master for a role play group.

Seeing Code Everywhere

Elora’s dad has loved seeing his daughters enjoy their coding journey so much, but he’s noticed a difference even outside of classes and projects.

“She’s a little bit more confident now when she does things. Like when she goes to a website and they present her with a thing that won’t let her go any further, she has no problem hitting f12 and going in and finding the div and turning off the styles that are stopping her. She’s thinking on a different level now. I think before there were certain things about what she saw on a computer screen that were just kind of mysterious and now she actually understands how this is working.”

Elora jokes that “everywhere I look I see CSS.”

For students who may be struggling in the beginning, Elora shares when coding changed for her.

“I would say if you’re not enjoying it at first, just wait until you’re able to implement user interactivity, because that opens up a whole world of opportunities. The moment you get into HTML and you’re able to have buttons and input fields, it’s just a whole new world.”

Elora has had CodeWizardsHQ teacher Melanie for several classes, who has nothing but glowing things to say about her work in and out of class.

You could tell the first day of Web Dev that she was going to be amazing. I have had her for 4 full courses, and I still cannot wait to see what she is going to do each lesson. She pays attention to every detail, like a seasoned programmer, thinking of every scenario. She is not afraid to ask questions but always looks for the solution herself.

Melanie Seiberlich, CodeWizardsHQ Teacher

Elora’s Standout Projects:

Word Scramble

Fine Additions

Trivia Spree

At CodeWizardsHQ, Our Students Are Our Top Priority.

We are lucky to have Elora and her family as a part of our community!

Interested in learning to code this summer? 
See our summer classes and coding camps for kids.

Level up your child’s learning experience. Take a coding class with CodeWizardsHQ:
Elementary School Coding Program, Middle School Coding Program, High School Coding Program

The post Student Spotlight: Elora B. appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Meet Charles! He’s all about building games with his coding skills and loves sharing his passion with friends and family. We’re thrilled to have had him as a CodeWizardsHQ student for the past two years.

Charles comes from a STEM family (his mom has a PhD in genetics and his dad has a PhD in biomedical sciences) and has been interested in engineering for a long time, but his interest in coding started when he discovered Scratch and started playing around with it. Then he was exposed to coding outside of Scratch through a summer camp through a local university, which led his parents to start looking for coding classes for Charles outside of summer. 

“He really enjoyed the coding there and we tried to find a course that could really build on that,” says Charles’s dad, Brad. “I think Charles really got interested in coding because he’s been doing engineering for a long time, ever since he got his first LEGO system.”

Coding as a Group Activity

What has been the most fun for Charles in his coding journey so far is learning how to build his own games. Not only does he share his games and projects with his parents every week, but he’s built games for his friends, too.

“After I started getting to the point where i could make games, my friends started asking for me to make some for them,” Charles says. “The virtual reality ones were their favorites.”

Brad shared that Charles’s coding classes have really become a group event thanks to his excitement for sharing what he’s learned.

“His friends will come over into his room and he’ll be showing off the games that he’s developed for them, so it’s really a social event with all the kids in the neighborhood and that’s kind of fun to watch,” he says. “My birthday present one year was a video game that he created with CodeWizards.”

While coding might seem like a solitary activity to most people, Charles not only involves his friends from his neighborhood, he has also made friends in his CodeWizardsHQ classes.

“I like coding with friends and stuff. You can make friends in class,” he says, noting that he has a few CWHQ classmates who he talks to outside of class. 

When he’s not busy building games, Charles enjoys playing chess and swimming. He’s also been playing bass guitar for the past two years.  

Coding has also become a family activity now that Charles’s younger sister started with CodeWizardsHQ, starting with Scratch in our elementary school program. 

The Importance of Great Teachers

While Charles got interested in coding because of his desire to become a mechanical engineer, and he loves building games and making new friends, his other favorite things about CodeWizardsHQ are the teachers.

“I really like the instructors. They’re really easy to get along with and they can be very helpful.”

Charles’s dad is thrilled to see his son’s passion for coding and is happy to help him continue his coding journey as long as he wants.

“My job is just to support him in every way I can and he really enjoys coding, so I will continue with CodeWizards as much as possible.”

Charles’s teacher, Lynn, loved having him in class for his enthusiasm for coding and his unique sense of humor. Here’s what she had to say about Charles:

Charles has got a great sense of humor. He’s perfect at delivering a quick, witty quip to elicit a laugh break during a long working silence. Often in the middle of class, I’ll catch him making custom changes to the project. He uploads his own images, and edits the design to suit his chosen theme of the day, hmm … Star Wars perhaps? As always, he also layers in his humor. 

Lynn, CodeWizardsHQ Teacher

Charles’s Standout Projects:

Chicken Thrower

Get the Stormtroopers

Go For the Goal

At CodeWizardsHQ, Our Students Are Our Top Priority.

We are lucky to have Charles and his family as a part of our community!

Interested in learning to code this summer? See our summer coding camps for kids.

Take a coding class with CodeWizardsHQ: Elementary School Coding Program, Middle School Coding Program, High School Coding Program

The post Student Spotlight: Charles B. appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Meet Ellie! She was inspired by her older sister to start taking classes with CodeWizardsHQ, but then discovered what she really loves about coding. Ellie loves taking her homework projects and going even further than what is assigned to make them her own.

Living in Silicon Valley, tech talk is all around Ellie and her family, but none of them were that familiar with programming. What Ellie’s parents did know, though, was that coding would be a beneficial skill for their daughters. That’s when they started to research the best coding program for their older daughter.

We did a lot of research, but what I like about CodeWizards after reading the reviews is they have structured classes. You do have to go to class, so it’s more like a school instead of if you do a free class online. At least for me, I tend to fall off the wagon with something like that, so I like that it’s more structured.

Ellie’s mom

After seeing what her older sister was doing in her CodeWizardsHQ classes, Ellie decided she wanted to join in on the fun, too. Since she just finished up sixth grade, she started with our middle school program and has completed Introduction to Python and Webpages with HTML & CSS. She’s currently taking Interactive Web with Javascript, the final course in Wizard Level I before the Capstone project. 

Customizing Her Code

As Ellie has progressed on her coding journey, what she has discovered she likes the most is making projects interactive.

“It’s more fun when it’s interactive, so then the person doesn’t just have to read what I made, they can also interact with the project,” she says.

To customize her projects and make them interactive, she’s known for going above and beyond with homework assignments, even researching new skills that haven’t been taught in class yet.

“When I do the projects, I think of ideas of how to add something to it and I just wonder if it’s possible to do with HTML. So I search it up and then I can fit it right into the code for CodeWizards.”

One of her favorite projects so far was the foosball project at the end of Introduction to Programming with Python. But Ellie wasn’t satisfied with just doing the project as it was assigned.

“I added some additions to them. Since it was the last project for Python, I kind of knew how to manage everything, so that’s why when I added all the additions it was cool at the end. And there’s two more additions in HTML that I liked because they were interactive and I can make it so that it links to other places, so I had a lot of fun doing that, too.”

Inspiration From Her Hobbies

Outside of her CodeWizardsHQ classes, Ellie loves science and has also played the violin for three years in orchestra class. Her orchestra experience even influenced one of her coding projects, where she showed different instruments and how they sound.

Ultimately, it’s the final results of these projects that keeps Ellie interested in learning more about coding. 

“I enjoy coding because whenever you type code, then you’re always wondering what the final result is going to be. So when I see the project after I coded everything, the final result is pretty cool. Because it’s like cause and effect — you type all this code and then you finally see your final result and I’m kind of amazed by that,” she says.

What Ellie has learned already in her courses is that she can take the fundamentals of coding and use them to create projects that go above and beyond her assignments.

“Once you understand the basics of the coding, you can just do anything from there. Like in HTML, there’s a lot of things you can do with the code, but once you just know like how to type it, I think that’s easy and you can just keep coding.”

Ellie’s teacher, Alec, loves seeing what she comes up with to make homework projects her own. Here’s what he had to say:

She’s an exceptional student, frequently going above and beyond in and out of assignments. Often times she takes the homework and makes them her own, even using tools and skills she learns outside of class. What she comes up with is always an awesome application of concepts, and honestly most of the assignments she does are far above and beyond what I would typically expect a student at this level to make.

Alec, CodeWizardsHQ Teacher

Ellie’s Standout Projects:

Sceneries and Music

Fortune Teller

Music Player

At CodeWizardsHQ, Our Students Are Our Top Priority.

We are lucky to have Ellie and her family as a part of our community!

Interested in learning to code this summer? 
See our summer classes and coding camps for kids.

Level up your child’s learning experience. Take a coding class with CodeWizardsHQ:
Elementary School Coding Program, Middle School Coding Program, High School Coding Program

The post Student Spotlight: Ellie H. appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Meet Reetika! Although she was encouraged by her dad and sister to start learning to code, she’s discovered she has a true passion for programming. Behind her quiet demeanor, she’s a hard worker who loves building her own websites and has big plans for her coding journey.

Reetika’s dad, Giri, works as a software developer and first learned about CodeWizardsHQ through a flyer from his older daughter’s high school. She took a couple courses with us before moving on to other interests, but Giri noted how well the intro CodeWizardsHQ classes prepared her for taking more advanced programming classes later in high school. That’s why he decided to start Reetika with our middle school course, enrolling her in Intro to Programming with Python last summer.

“I thought I should get her also familiar with coding and programming because that’s going to be the future,” he says. “I just wanted to just plant the seed and see whether she would be really interested in pursuing it.”

For Reetika, she discovered that in addition to loving learning new skills, coding was another way she could be creative.

I thought maybe if I knew different languages, I could understand the codes and make a future website for myself that’s really interactive. It’s exciting because I like to express my ideas in a different way.

One year into her coding journey, Reetika is already taking the Mastering Databases class, just two classes away from completing the entire middle school course. Her ultimate goal is to get through our high school courses and participate in the internship program, where she can apply her skills to work on a project for a nonprofit.

While Reetika loves coding as a way to express herself, another creative outlet she enjoys is dancing. She takes weekly classes to learn the Indian classical dance form Bharatnatyam. She also loves astronomy, which her dad is encouraging her to combine with her coding skills for a special summer project.

“I’ve asked her to develop her own website which would kind of be a mirror to herself, to put out everything she has learned in CodeWizards,” Giri says. “She’s interested in astronomy quite a bit and at night she sometimes goes out and she observes all the stars around her. So I’ve told her to get some snaps and learn about the planets and build a project for herself.”

Giri has also noticed that as Reetika’s coding journey has progressed, she’s not as shy and is becoming more confident and engaged.

“She started to open up quite a bit so she’s not hesitant to ask a question, and if she hasn’t understood a concept, she’s not shy anymore to ask the teacher. She has started speaking a lot more in her classes,” he says.

In fact, when asked what she would tell other kids about CodeWizardsHQ, one of the first things Reetika mentions is how easy it is to get questions answered. 

“The lessons are awesome and you can ask questions, you don’t have to hesitate,” she says. “The stuff that the teachers teach us is more influential and you can actually remember it easier.”

Reetika’s passion for coding is certainly evident in the work she does in her classes and we’re thrilled that she’s chosen to continue taking classes with us. Here’s what her current teacher, Jordan, had to say about her:

Awesomely energetic, and an even more awesome programmer! She’s an absolute delight to have in class.

Jordan, CodeWizardsHQ Teacher

Reetika’s Standout Projects:

Plants vs Zombies

Pokemon Gotcha

My Notepad

At CodeWizardsHQ, Our Students Are Our Top Priority.

We are lucky to have Reetika and her family as a part of our community!

Interested in learning to code this summer? 
See our summer classes and coding camps for kids.

Level up your child’s learning experience. Take a coding class with CodeWizardsHQ:
Elementary School Coding Program, Middle School Coding Program, High School Coding Program

The post Student Spotlight: Reetika R. appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Meet Charlie G! Not only has Charlie been a CodeWizardsHQ student for nearly a year and a half, he’s become an unofficial part of the CodeWizardsHQ team thanks to his excellent work as a moderator in our forums (he even created his own Discourse bot to help with moderation). Multiple instructors recommended Charlie for our Student Spotlight, and we couldn’t agree more!

Charlie is currently in his sixth CodeWizardsHQ class in our high school coding program and has been surrounded by tech talk his whole life — his dad, Michael, started out as a developer and has founded several software and internet companies. Charlie was coding before CodeWizardsHQ, but he struggled with the format of the typical online tutorials.

“I used to go to summer coding camps, and my dad got me a lot of online courses, but I was never good with continuing to follow through and finish the course, so he thought that something was paced around someone else’s schedule might be better for me,” Charlie says.

Michael heard about CodeWizardsHQ through a friend — his neighbor’s son was already taking courses and talked highly about the program. He liked that CodeWizardsHQ classes could be done from the convenience of home but still had live instructors, so he decided to sign Charlie up for his first class.

As Charlie continued with CodeWizardsHQ, he really looked forward to the projects he was given in each class, especially because of their creativity.

“I would never think of making what we make in CodeWizards on my own. But once you make them, it’s fun because the project is fun, but you still learn new techniques in coding,” he says.

Charlie has also gotten involved a lot with hardware, building his own computers, helping friends with their computer issues, getting his own personal computer setup just right, and even just taking apart computers to learn more about components.

In addition to his technology-related interests, Charlie loves math and science, plays trumpet and baseball, loves to ski … and makes gummy bears.

“A little while back, before COVID, I had a gummy bear business, where I made candy and sold it. I originally used a website builder, but then I wrote my own website which actually increased my business by a lot. Coding helped me create my own business and be able to show people what I can do.”

As a dad, Michael has enjoyed watching his son expand his coding skills and see his excitement with his projects, but also realizes that Charlie may just know more than he does when it comes to coding.

“I would say somewhere over the last year and a half, between the classes and his own studying from YouTube videos and whatnot, he’s kind of surpassed me in technical wherewithal. I work with developers every day, I’m on Zoom all day with work, and then I hang up and listen to Charlie talking about APIs and Javascript, checking stuff in, merging branches, you know, all the lingo,” Michael says. “I’m a little envious of his ability and that conversion happened over the past year or so.”

Although Charlie isn’t entirely sure what field of technology he wants to go into after school, he does know that coding will be a part of his life no matter what he decides to do for college and beyond.

“The world is definitely moving toward newer and newer technology. Being able to code just lets you know what’s going on, lets you control your own life. You can make your own technology, do whatever you want, or contribute to something else.”

For now, Charlie is looking forward to the capstone class for Wizard Level II in the high school program and is enjoying getting to know a new CodeWizardsHQ instructor with his current class. For kids who are new to learning with CodeWizardsHQ, Charlie wholeheartedly recommends getting involved with our forums.

“The community is probably one of the best parts. I moderate the forum and there are so many people that will help other people having problems with their code. If you need help, there are plenty of ways to get it,” he says. “Even if you don’t need help, the forum is a great place to communicate with other people who have a similar interest of coding.”

While Charlie loves the CodeWizardsHQ forums, his favorite part about coding itself, he says, is “receiving 500 errors and then getting it to work.” Persistence and a willingness to learn are what have helped Charlie progress so far with CodeWizardsHQ already and are all any student needs to start to learn how to code.

Here is what Charlie’s teacher, Lynn, had to say about him:

“Charlie is self directed and inquisitive. He spends a great deal of time exploring different languages and their uses. He works hard to figure out how things work, in class and on his own.”

Lynn Schirmer, CodeWizardsHQ Teacher

Charlie’s Standout Projects:

Rock and Pop Music Player

Forum Web Application

Time Machine

At CodeWizardsHQ, Our Students Are Our Top Priority.

We are lucky to have Charlie and his family as a part of our community!

Interested in learning to code this summer? 
See our summer classes and coding camps for kids.

Level up your child’s learning experience. Take a coding class with CodeWizardsHQ:
Elementary School Coding Program, Middle School Coding Program, High School Coding Program

The post Student Spotlight: Charlie G. appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.