Press Release: Maryland Launching 'Hour Of Code' Contest For 2015

Deadline is December 5

For Immediate Release                    Contact: Bill Reinhard, 410-767-0486, 410-241-7108 (cell)

Baltimore, MD (November 9, 2015)

The Maryland State Department of Education today launched the 2015 “Maryland Hour of Code,” a contest to spark student interest in computer science and computational thinking.

The contest will award a $10,000 technology donation to a public school that ensures that every student has at least a one-hour coding experience during Computer Science Education Week, December 7-13.  The Northrop Grumman Corporation has generously provided the funding for the contest.

“Computational thinking has become a new basic skill. The Maryland Hour of Code contest is an opportunity for students from across the State to become familiar with computer science and have fun doing so,” said Maryland Interim State Superintendent of Schools Jack Smith. “Coding provides the first step toward in-demand careers.”

Teachers, principals, and other school staff members are encouraged to participate.  One application per school will be accepted. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, December 5.

This is the second year for the Maryland Hour of Code Contest.  Old Mill Middle School South in Anne Arundel County was last year’s winner of the $10,000 computer equipment prize.

Code.org says that Maryland currently has nearly 20,000 open computing jobs, but only 2,000 computer science graduates coming out of colleges and universities in the State.  The average salary for a computer science occupation in Maryland is $98,593.

Nearly 4,700 Maryland students were enrolled in computer science and information technology courses at 49 high schools in the State during the 2014-15 school year. An increasing number of schools are offering AP computer science courses, and 1,568 exams were taken at 120 high schools.

The $10,000 prize is in the form of DonorsChoose.org funding credits.  For information on DonorsChoose, go here.  Teachers can find Hour of Code tutorials and resources here.

More information on the Maryland Hour of Code, as well as an application for this year’s competition, is available here.

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