By Farrah Hasen and Alison Beach
Last week Pagosa Coders introduced Pagosa Peak Open School students to the idea of coding through hands-on and computer programs. This event was facilitated by the Pagosa Innovation Center. With Pagosa Coders, students were able to try out coding through a variety of fun, kinesthetic exercises and get an overview of the possibilities that coding can provide vocationally and recreationally. Some of the activities included programming a band to play songs, designing a video game layout, and developing a custom level of a popular video game, Flappy Bird.
The goal of the event was to introduce kids to coding in a fun and “no-pressure” atmosphere, where they could see if it is something of interest to begin developing and working towards as a career.
Pagosa Innovation Center — a non-profit that operates a co-working space alongside entrepreneurial outreach programs, such as Pagosa Coders — is designed to complement and strengthen the rural economic ecosystem in Pagosa Springs. Pagosa Innovation Center envisions an energetic, thriving, and magnetic town in the mountains, where every person has the tools and opportunities to live their potential. The steadfast mission of Pagosa Innovation Center is to attract and connect people and ideas to successful futures in this regional area.
Pagosa Innovation Center hopes that events like these “ignite a spark in students that the possibilities are seemingly endless working with technology, and that they can positively impact their community and the workplace as a whole. So many of the jobs of the future have not been created yet, and we want the next generation to be set up for success and be well-equipped to take on what challenges lie ahead…”
Pagosa Peak Open School, the community’s district-authorized charter school, looks forward to future collaborations with Pagosa Coders, to offer possible afterschool programming, as the Pagosa Innovation Center launches their kids’ programs.
Farrah Hasen is Community Manager at the Pagosa Innovation Center. Alison Beach is Communications / Grants Manager at Pagosa Peak Open School.