Newtown High School senior Bryce Griffin introduced himself to a classroom of students on Monday, December 5, and explained he was there to oversee an Hour of Code activity.csedweek.org/learncode.org

, complete with tutorials, lesson plans, and, "activities to integrate computer science in every subject area for different grade bands, for one hour or longer, across languages."For Computer Science Education Week at NHS, recognized this year from December 5 to December 11, computer technology teacher Kristin Violette offered her fellow teachers the chance to participate with their classes in a "massive campaign called the Hour of Code," she wrote in an e-mail to her coworkers on November 15. Ms Violette went on to explain a Computer Science Education Week Committee offered an Hour of Code activity finder online,

, a public 501(c)3, with support from the general public, according to its website.Computer Science Education Week is organized by

Computer labs were made available to teachers who wished to have classes participate, and Ms Violette assigned students like Bryce to act as "coding ambassadors" to help with lessons.

Bryce, using a projection screen, showed the students in Liza Zandonella's Skills 21 class where to find the Hour of Code activity they would be using for the class period. He also offered descriptions of computer science classes available at NHS, and he answered any questions the students had about taking computer science classes.

"There are a lot more options than we have had in the past," Bryce said, pulling up a list of available classes at NHS.

As her App Inventor class worked around her, Ms Violette said she had special lesson plans for her own classes for Computer Science Education Week.

The school offered special announcements throughout Computer Science Education Week. Ms Violette said NHS is making "great strides" in teaching the computer science field.

At Reed Intermediate School, computer technology teacher Tim McGuire said he made himself available to assist teachers for Computer Science Education Week. Newtown Middle School computer integration teacher Rachel Smith also made herself available to assist throughout the week for other teachers.