VAN RIPER: Thanks for tuning in today
to this special edition of Google Developers Live.
Today, we have Joshua and Courtney Woodward joining us
as the GDG Fresno High organizers.
And later, we'll have some of the student numbers
of GDG Fresno High joining us in celebration of computer science
education week.
I am Van Riper.
I work with our Google Developer Groups
around the world as a community advocate.
And I've worked with Josh for a long time
as one of our GDG Fresno organizers.
And today, Josh and Courtney are going
to tell us about how they got started with GDG Fresno High.
JOSHUA WOODWARD: That's correct.
Being a part of GDG Fresno, we were
involved with adults and already established programmers.
And we wanted to get high schoolers involved.
And my wife is a teacher at a local High School, Fresno High.
And so I approached her and asked, how do we start a club
and get kids involved?
And how can I come on campus and teach kids how to code?
VAN RIPER: And Courtney, you were
saying how at the beginning the challenges
you had to start with?
COURTNEY WOODWARD: Well, absolutely.
Because to be a club sponsor, that's above and beyond
your teaching responsibilities, your classroom
responsibilities.
So a lot is on your own time coordinating
with other adults on campus to get
the club started, to get a meeting place.
And in this case, one of our greatest obstacles
was getting computers in front of the kids
so they can actually code.
VAN RIPER: And then you told me how this year
how it's really taken off.
You did the club expo at the beginning of the year.
COURTNEY WOODWARD: Right.
So since it was new, and there was
no sort of tech club on campus, we didn't know where to start.
And at the middle of last year, we
said, well, we're just going to go for it.
So we got the paperwork in and recruited a few kids.
But it was really hard to get the word out.
And we didn't have computers.
This year however, at the beginning of the year
we did the club expo.
I had Josh's Google Glass on.
That really caught kids' attention.
And we had over 60 students sign up
that were interested in some sort of aspect of technology
or computer science are just learning more
about Google products.
VAN RIPER: And how often do the students meet?
JOSHUA WOODWARD: Now we meet once a week, on average,
about once a week during lunch or after school in a computer
lab where we have access to computers.
We started off just by showing them the video on code.org.
And they get really inspired when they hear like free food
and they get to play pool all day.
So that got them hooked into the club.
But now we do actual hands-on stuff.
So like, we built a tic-tac-toe game in JavaScript.
And walked them through that, step
by step, on what everything that's going on.
VAN RIPER: That's great.
And you also told me that you did something kind of unique.
I think you might be one of the first-- well,
you are the first high school group that we've ever had.
We've had many university chapters,
but GDG Fresno High is our first chapter within a high school.
But you were able to get Google Apps for Education?
JOSHUA WOODWARD: Yeah.
So we have a domain, fresnohighwarriors.com.
And it has a Google Apps for Education account tied to it.
So somewhere in the requirements,
it just say you had to be a school organization.
And so that's what we were.
So now the students get their name at fresnohighwarriors.com.
And they have access to Google Drive accounts and Google Docs.
And we can actually open up a doc
and plan a meeting and share.
VAN RIPER: And how much did that cost?
JOSHUA WOODWARD: That's free.
VAN RIPER: That's right, it's free.
So the schools out there, if you want to start a chapter
like at your high school, if you work
with an organizer like Josh in your area,
because we don't allow under 18 people to organize groups.
But if you get an adult organizer in your high school,
you could potentially get these Google Apps
for Education for your students as well, which is great.
I think that's a great thing you guys did.
JOSHUA WOODWARD: Yeah.
That's one of the things is why it worked,
I think because my wife was a teacher on campus.
So it was easy to get in that way on campus.
So it's just a matter of getting somebody that's on campus.
So if you're a teacher on campus and you want to start a club,
go to the Google Developers group directory.
And see if there's a chapter in your area,
and contact that organizer.
And work with them probably.
VAN RIPER: Yeah, great.
So maybe now we should actually talk
to some of the students about their experience
with the groups.
Sound good?
JOSHUA WOODWARD: Yep.
VAN RIPER: And we're back with, Fresno high school students
Chris, Muarshawn, and Riley.
So Chris, tell us about how you got started coding.
CHRIS: Oh, well.
I was really bored for about a month during summer.
And my grandma was reading the newspaper.
And she saw this thing called 59 Days of Code.
And it was downtown in my city.
And she took me down there, and there
was a man named Jake [? Soberall ?].
And he is starting a new course and he teaches kids
how to code, because he says that there's not
enough people that are coding.
Well, There needs to be much more.
Back to you, Van.
VAN RIPER: Thank you, Chris.
So how about you, Muarshawn?
How did you get started?
MUARSHAWN: I got started coding by like, when I was little,
I used to always mess around with technology.
You know how little kids are.
You like to do different things, you
don't know which one to pick.
So you know like, when I got to Fresno High,
I used to go to the library like every day during lunch,
after school sometimes, sometimes before school.
And I never heard of the GDG program
that Miss Woodward had going on.
She found me.
So I was like, yeah, I'll join.
So the first day, it was on Thursday.
I went, there was like a variety of different kids.
So I was like, I probably can fit in,
because it ain't just for like one kind of kid.
You know, geeks, football players, basketball players,
anybody.
So I joined.
VAN RIPER: That's great, Muarshawn.
So how about you, Riley?
How'd you get started?
RILEY: Well, my stepdad, Josh, started me on Code Academy
online.
And I played around with that for a little while
and then lost interest in it.
It seemed a little bit out of my league,
like it seemed I had so far to go
and it kind of discouraged me a little bit.
But when the club started, it actually
helped me realize how like I could find my place
and like do things at my level.
I didn't have to be a master at anything.
I could just work with what I had.
And it would be enough.
So it really encouraged me to do more.
VAN RIPER: Great.
So what keeps you coming back to GDG Fresno High?
CHRIS: I just really like coding.
And I like my teacher that teaches that.
And I don't know.
I think the kids are really nice.
And it's really good in there.
Everybody can fit in.
VAN RIPER: Great How about you, Riley?
RILEY: Well, it's like the next big thing.
It is the big thing.
And it will be for some time, I think.
It's computers and Google and developing.
And it's not going to be out of style or something
like next year.
It'll be around.
And it'll keep growing and keep getting better.
And I'd like to be a part of that.
VAN RIPER: Great.
How about you, Muarshawn?
MUARSHAWN: I agree with Riley.
Computers are going to be around for a while.
It's like it is the new thing.
You're going to see, soon or later,
you're going to see everybody with a computer.
You're going to see everybody doing the coding.
It's like I like the atmosphere.
Everybody around me is like smart, intelligent, bright.
I like that.
VAN RIPER: So do any of you have any final thoughts?
Anything like that can actually speak to your peers out there?
Students?
Maybe other schools?
Like why you think they should get
involved in something like this?
CHRIS: I think everybody should be a part of coding,
because it's going to be like the future.
I think everybody's going to code, mostly.
Like you should do this if it's available.
MUARSHAWN: I'm going to say like, try
something new for a chance.
You know, like don't keep doing the same thing over and OK.
Because sooner or later, it's going to be boring.
RILEY: Yeah.
Along the same lines, even if you think it's like to hard
or you have a long way to go, you just keep working at it.
And even though you're a beginner,
you can still contribute in some way to either your community
or to some project.
So just don't get discouraged about it.
VAN RIPER: Well, that's great.
Well I really appreciate your time, Chris, Muarshawn,
and Riley for coming out and telling us
about your experiences.
And I'd also like to thank Joshua and Courtney Woodward
as well as the Fresno high school for their support
in this first ever GDG Google Developer Group chapter
for in a high school.
As you can see from the discussion today,
students really warm to this.
They really are passionate about learning about technology.
And we'd really like to see many more groups like this
be inspired by what we heard about today.
And you can participate by going to csedweek.org,
and joining in an hour of code during Computer Science
Education Week.