Niwot High School seniors share computer programming know-how with younger students

Twelve-year-old Alan Bustos admits he was a bit surprised to find himself at Coding Camp, which started Monday at St. Vrain Valley School District’s Innovation Center.

“I was unexpectedly put into the camp. I didn’t know I was coming,” Alan said. “It was my mom, I think.”

Bustos and his fellow fifth through eighth grade campers learned Scratch — a kids’ computer programming language developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Unlike adult programming languages — which require typing lines of code — Scratch offers a colorful drag-and-drop interface, according to the camp creators and instructors, Niwot High School seniors Hannah Piersol and Caitlyn Fong, both 17.

St. Vrain Valley Schools