Phyllis "Fig" Ferrell is an experienced computer teacher at a Jacob Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky. She first saw Let’s Start Coding kits demonstrated in 2017 at a technology conference and was immediately interested. When Fig saw that her young students could use the Code Rocket and Code Car without worrying about misplacing or mishandling small parts, she knew those kits were the right fit for her.
When Fig started a Girls Who Code club at her school, 22 girls signed up, so the group raised the funds needed to order enough kits to get started. The group now has several Code Rockets and Code Cars that they use in Fig's computer lab for the one-hour club meetings every other week. Girls are often paired up, taking turns on the keyboard and helping each other solve coding challenges.
What Fig loves about the Code Rocket is the simplicity and the fact that the girls can learn at their own pace and without much teacher support. That way she can give girls one-on-one instruction without slowing the rest of the club down. Fig appreciates the fact that she doesn’t have to play “catch up” with the kids just to be able to instruct them; the answers to the girls’ questions are often available as a part of the free online lessons and video walkthroughs.
“THE GIRLS GET SO EXCITED WHEN THEY FIGURE SOMETHING OUT, AND THAT’S REALLY ALL THAT MATTERS TO ME,” FIG SAID.
Even during club meetings where the girls had multiple computer science projects to choose from, many of them choose to work with Let’s Start Coding kits.
With in-person school activities like her Girls Who Code club on hold due to COVID-19, Fig hopes to be able to get her Let's Start Coding kits to girls at home so they can continue their learning. “I just love the products,” she said.
