Teaching coding to the next generation

Identical twins Mathew and Andrew Pareles, 17, both seniors at Hewlett High School are self-taught coding experts and have been sharing their knowledge with Hewlett Elementary School students since the spring. 

Their classes began at the elementary school with approximately 12 students. The duo continued the program during the summer and as of Aug. 23, Mathew and Andrew conducted 10 classes at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 4 p.m. with a smaller group of about four to six kids allowing for more individual attention.

“Coding is the instruction you give a computer to make it do everything from running programs and apps to moving objects in a virtual world,” Mathew said, when asked to explain coding in the most basic terms. 

During the 2015-2016 school year, the Hewlett Elementary PTA in conjunction with the Discovery program hosted coding classes. The after-school classes sparked the kids’ interest and began to prepare them for the robotics team’s Java curriculum. Java is a programming language used when coding. 

Mathew and Andrew approached Janine Torresson, the elementary school Discovery teacher and robotics coach at Hewlett High with the concept of a curriculum to teach Java and other coding to elementary school students. “They were genuinely excited about it,” she said. 

Torresson helped them set up a special class for kids who were interested in learning about coding in addition to the PTA/Discovery program. With her guidance, Andrew and Mathew developed a plan to differentiate activities depending on the various skill levels of the kids they work with on computer coding. 

“Our focus with the robotics team last year was to get the next generation interested and prepared,” Torresson said about the Mathew and Andrew’s involvement with the Hewlett High School’s Innovo robotics team. 

Jason Zelicof, 10, is entering the fifth grade in September. At the Aug. 23 class, he said his favorite part of these classes is “learning to code new stuff.” 

Since Mathew and Andrew did not receive much guidance in the way of computer programming as they grew up, Mathew said: “Being able to share with them what we learned over the years is really special. ”

Jonathon River, 10, said he “learned how to clone characters and make them follow you,” in Roblox, an online virtual playground and workshop where users can create characters and build things like a skyscraper or trampoline on their allotted piece of property and then share their work with each other. “We actually played Roblox when we were their age,” Andrew said. 

Sarel River, Jonathon’s father, said his son enjoys the coding classes run by the Pareles brothers: “He loves it. He talks about it all the time.”

The brothers develop their own lesson plans based on what the kids want to learn and what they think would be helpful for them. They create handouts and give the kids homework. The classes will continue into the school year on a weekly basis as an after-school club. 

The Hewlett robotics team is raising money for the upcoming school year to help defray the cost of purchasing and maintaining the equipment and software they use. To donate, go to www.gofundme.com/HewlettRobotics.