About the Creative Coding Program

The Creative Coding Program was formed in 2014 by the Williamson County Schools Technology Advisory Board, which is affiliated with the Nashville Technology Council. The Board is a group of IT professional, WCS educators, and WCS administrators dedicated to providing our students with opportunities to learn about technology. The Creative Coding Program is organized and taught entirely by volunteers from the local IT community.

Students in Williamson County Middle Schools (grades 6-8) learn foundational web programming languages, including HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Each meeting is approximately 45 minutes and begins with a brief lecture followed by instructor-led coding for the students to create personal web pages.

Schools Participating

Currently, the following four Williamson County Middle Schools have a Creative Coding Program in place, and three more are waiting for us to bring the program to their schools. As we gain more volunteers in the Spring Hill area and southern parts of Williamson County, we will continue to expand the program.

Woodland Middle School
Grassland Middle School
Brentwood Middle School
Sunset Middle School
How to Get Involved

1. Corporate Partnership
   Through a Corporate Partnership with a single school, a corporation agrees to provide approximately 5-15 volunteers to run the program at a school along with a designated Coordinator to be the liaison with the school and manage the volunteer schedule. There is no financial obligation required to be a Corporate Partner. Current Corporate Partners include Tractor Supply Company, Jackson National Life, and Delek US.
2. Individual Volunteers
   If you do not work for a company that can commit to a Corporate Partnership, you may volunteer on your own to either teach a section of the program or assist the students as they have questions during the meetings. Individual Volunteers are placed at schools which have no Corporate Partner. Currently, all Individual Volunteers are placed at Sunset Middle School. As we gain more volunteers in the Spring Hill area and southern parts of Williamson County, we will likely use Individual volunteers to serve those schools as well.

All volunteers need to have basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, and Javascript. We are teaching concepts that are extremely basic, so it is fine if a volunteer hasn’t worked with these tools directly in the last few years. We also encourage volunteers to talk about their backgrounds and careers with the students.

All volunteers must obtain Tier III volunteer status through Williamson County Schools, which requires a background check. WCS covers the cost of this process (approximately $36). Click here for details regarding this process.

Volunteer Time Commitment

Williamson County Schools start late on what are called “Power Mondays,” leaving an ideal time for the program to take place. The Creative Coding Program meets on the following Power Mondays at each school during the 2015-2016 school year from 7:15 a.m. until 8:00 a.m.

• 2015
  • September 14
  • September 21
  • September 28
  • October 5
  • October 26
  • November 2
  • November 16
  • December 7
• 2016
  • January 11
  • January 25
  • February 1
  • February 8
  • February 22
  • February 29
  • March 7
  • March 14
  • April 4
  • April 11
  • April 18
  • April 25

Volunteers who choose to be Instructors are also required to attend a training session (approximately 2 hours). All curriculum and course materials are provided in advance.

Contact

To get involved, please contact Meg Chamblee at mchamblee@askcts.com or (615) 224-0460.