Rice Code College helps interest kids in programming

Thirty Houston-area middle school students spent Saturday at Rice learning how to program computers at Rice Code College, a student-organized event sponsored by the Rice Computer Science Club. Rice Code College, which is in its second year, is free for participants and is designed to stimulate underrepresented students’ interest in computer programming and to teach students about opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Saturday’s participants came from 15 public and private middle schools from school districts that included Cypress-Fairbanks, Houston, Fort Bend and Yes Prep. The event was organized and run by Iqra Dada, a junior in computer science, and Radina Khalid, a senior in chemical engineering. More than a dozen Rice undergraduate and graduate student volunteers assisted along with five external volunteers.

(Photos courtesy of Carlyn Chatfield)