Gov. Asa Hutchinson highlights importance of computer coding

From left, Brintley Parker, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Juana Reichhardt and Isaiah Singleton show the governor how they programmed drones to fly on their own by coding. The students are in the sixth grade at Washington Middle School. Kaitlyn Rigdon/News-Times
From left, Brintley Parker, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Juana Reichhardt and Isaiah Singleton show the governor how they programmed drones to fly on their own by coding. The students are in the sixth grade at Washington Middle School. Kaitlyn Rigdon/News-Times

As part of his Computer Science Tour of Arkansas Schools, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Arkansas is leading the nation in computer science education. Hutchinson spoke to El Dorado School District students of all ages involved in computer science classes Wednesday at the high school.

State Rep. Matthew Shepherd, who was recently selected as Speaker of the House, introduced Hutchinson, noting his political experience.

One initiative of Hutchinson’s campaign was to mandate computer coding classes in every public high school in Arkansas. El Dorado went from five computer science students last year to 89 students this year. Although it is mandatory to be offered in every public school, it is not a required course.

Hutchinson said it is a choice that the students have and that there are many students in the United States “that do not have that choice.”

Two days ago, Hutchinson said he went to Iowa per invitation from their governor to educate their state on what Arkansas is doing in terms of emphasizing computer science in schools.

“The reason I am here today is to encourage you to think about taking computer science or computer coding while you’re here in El Dorado,” Hutchinson said. “We’re really glad to lead the nation in computer science education.”

Computer science involves coding, which is knowing the language of a computer so you can tell the computer what to do, Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson spoke about his time in Washington as the First Undersecretary of The Department of Homeland Security when the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. “The president asked me to help set up a new department of Homeland Security and said (my) responsibility was to protect the United States from terrorist attacks,” Hutchinson said.

He said part of this was leaning on “individuals who understood the language of the computer.” They were able to program software so that the computers could analyze large amounts of information about people, shipments and where things were going to determine if anyone “posed a risk.”

Hutchinson asked the students if they thought a computer programmer could help keep the country safe, adding that they did just as much as anyone in insuring the safety of Americans.

Hutchinson had the idea of including computer science in all schools from his 11-year-old granddaughter. She programmed and app for his campaign offering people the ability to contribute to it by using their mobil phones.

“I said ‘if my 11-year-old granddaughter can do this, then we ought to be emphasizing this in every high school in Arkansas,’” he said.

Hutchinson said he wanted to make sure that students in Arkansas have jobs available to them when they graduate. He said Arkansas is recruiting tech companies and building “tech giants” in Arkansas so “coding students” can be a part of them in the future.

“The exciting thing is that if you learn coding and you have access to high-speed internet, you could run the world from the front porch of your home here in El Dorado,” he said.

State-wide, there are currently over 6,000 students taking computer science classes, which is a 400 percent increase since the initiative began.

After his speech, Hutchinson went to a classroom where computer science students set up different coding programs they have been working on. Students from Yocum Elementary School, Washington Middle School, Barton Junior High School and Hugh Goodwin Elementary School all gave demonstrations of their coding programs to the governor.

Hutchinson’s Computer Science Tour of Arkansas Schools is the sixth tour of Arkansas he has taken since he took office in 2015. He has visited more than 50 schools in Arkansas to highlight the importance of computer science education and to emphasize his commitment of providing opportunities for learning.

Kaitlyn Rigdon can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].

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