According to check-in data, 243 kids joined us at Amazon.com’s Meeting Center for our 2016 Hour of Code event (see the tutorials we supported).
This little lady got to enjoy her first CoderDojo event. In fact, she was one of 100 girls who joined us.
But besides all the families who came out to give us purpose on Saturday, we have to thank all the volunteers.
This is only about 2/3 of the final tally. Because it’s Seattle, not everyone was on time for the group photo. 🙂
And our youngest volunteer…
Seriously. This kid has been a CoderDojo regular for a couple of years now and blows us away with his enthusiasm, his love for tech, and how willing he is to jump in and help others. And he’s not our only young volunteer. Just the youngest. Our teen volunteers who regularly help out on Saturday mornings throughout the year inspire us immeasurably.
We’re still amazed that we filled this space.
And we were just plain gratified to see all these kids having fun and learning.
But whether it was among the families or the volunteers…
There were a variety of ethnicities, national origins, religions, orientations, and we even had Democrats and Republicans working together. Because no matter what, this is what America is all about. It’s what being human is all about. It is about wanting the children in our communities to succeed and make a better tomorrow for themselves and those who come after them.
We may not always agree about what to teach them or how to teach it, but when we do agree, our ability to come together with common purpose and support our children is magnificent… and it gives us hope for the future… and we thank everyone who came on Saturday for that.
Thanks again to all our volunteers and to all the families who regularly give us the gift of helping your children open up new possibilities for their futures. It inspires us.
Thank you Bartell Drugs, Osmo, WowWee, and Wonder Workshop for coming out and donating robots, toys, and games for our pre-coding giveaway.
And we cannot thank Amazon.com enough for all the support they give us throughout the year. While this may have been the biggest event of the year, they have given us space for 150+ kids and parents 30+ Saturdays a year for three years running, and have committed to 31 more Saturdays in 2017.
May you have a blessed holiday season, however you choose to celebrate it, and wishes for a joyous, prosperous, healthy new year to all.
Sincerely,
Greg Bulmash
Chapter Founder & Organizer
Seattle CoderDojo
Photos by Margaret Nicosia (who volunteers teaching kids at Seattle CoderDojo when we don’t rope her into event photography, but she’s just so darn good at it)