Page 18 - Flathead Beacon // 12.17.14

18 | DECEMBER 17, 2014 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM Whitefish School Wins ‘Hour of Code’
Muldown Elementary only school in Montana to receive $10,000 grant during Computer Science Education Week
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
Muldown Elementary School received a $10,000 grant for technology improvements as a part of Com- puter Science Education Week. The Whitefish school joined thousands of others across the country this month to take part in an “Hour of Code” to help stu- dents better understand the science and art behind computer programs.
Students at Muldown first began writing code last year and computer technology teacher Gary Carmi- chael said the school is pleased with the progress that it’s made so far.
“In the computer lab the kids are really excited and always giving each other high-fives because they just love figuring this stuff out,” Carmichael said.
Source code is used to program computers and oth- er technical applications. Using letters and symbols, a programmer can instruct a computer what to do.
Computer technology instructor Gary Carmichael helps Max Everett with a coding project at Muldown Elementary School.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
“Learning code will open doors to future careers, but it will also help these students in their future schooling,” Carmichael said.
During Muldown’s regular technology class, stu- dents learn general computer literacy. This month, they began doing 30 minutes of code every week using programs at Code.org. One of the most basic programs on the website, which is sponsored by major tech com- panies like Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon, has students move a character from the Angry Birds game
across the screen. The students use commands like “move forward,” “move right,” and “move left” and stack them into lines of code. They then press a run button and watch the bird move. According to Code. org and Computer in the Core, roughly 90 percent of schools do not teach students how to code computers and that lack of education could impact the ability of America to compete in the global economy.
Earlier this year, Carmichael submitted his les- son plans to Code.org. A few weeks ago, the non-profit informed the school that it would be the only one in Montana to receive a $10,000 grant. Carmichael said the money would be used to purchase new computers. He said the school’s computers are actually older than most of the students.
“The computers we have now work, but it’ll be nice to get some newer ones,” he said.
Principal Linda Whitwright said school officials were shocked to find out they had won the grant and planned on continuing to offer computer education classes in the future.
“Computers are how we communicate and collabo- rate in the future,” Whitwright said. “And what’s great about coding is it’s not gender specific. Guys and gals can go as far as they want in the business.”
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Grant for New Technology
County Building Projects Move Ahead
Bids to be opened on Dec. 23 for new $6 million South Campus building
By BEACON STAFF
As the New Year approaches, Flathead County is
approaching major capital improvement projects on its Kalispell campus, including the renovation and re- vitalization of the historic jail building and the con- struction of an entirely new facility.
Earlier this month, the Flathead County Commis- sion put out a call for construction bids on the South Campus construction project, a $6 million build- ing that will eventually house several county depart- ments, including the Agency on Aging.
Bids for constructing the South Campus building
will be opened in the commissioners’ office on Dec. 23. Designs for the building, which the commission ap- proved in September, show a two-story facility, with Agency on Aging expected to take up the bottom floor. There will also be space for the county maintenance department, and a dental clinic for the Flathead City-
County Health Department.
It is expected to be of similar structure to the Earl
Bennett Building, which is situated nearby on the south campus.
The county’s renovation and revitalization of the old jail building is also in the works, with the $2.9 mil- lion project slated for completion in 2015. The jail cur- rently fulfills a hodge-podge of county uses, and there are still old jail cells in the basement and second floor of the building. The old holding tanks for prisoners now serve as county workshops.
The renovations will revamp the inside of the building, similar to how the county totally renewed the inside of the nearby courthouse building, which now houses various county departments.
With the remodel, the county will move the Flat- head County Attorney’s Office from its current loca- tion at the Flathead County Justice Center to the old jail, giving the county attorneys more space and free- ing up space at the justice center for the Clerk of Court offices and the Justice Court expansions.
There will also be room in the old jail for confer- ence rooms and meeting spaces.
In mid-November, the commission approved a con- tract for asbestos abatement services, and the county timeline for the entire project expects that it will be completed next spring.
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