US High school students are teaching underprivileged kids to code

Yogev Angelovici (16) and Zihao Zhou (17), both small town boys, had both come to Missouri to attend school. Both teenagers were interested in coding, but they could learn it at class only in high school. They also realised that learning to program strengthened their overall academic performance. Another child, Kat Crawford, also a teen coder, had a similar learning experience. But what is common among them? These high school kids are now part of Codivate, an NGO engaged in getting kids to teach other coding, and for free.  

How do these classes happen?  
Codivate, a not for profit organization, decided to offer four courses according to different skill levels and programming languages. Lessons usually last one hour, and each session goes up to about 12 weeks. Though meant primarily for children in elementary and middle school, it’s also suitable for older students who want to discover coding or want to learn a specific programming language. The tutors give out classes from home to small groups of students via Zoom. After teaching a concept, they assign a live online activity to check whether they have been able to deliver. The small group size, and the ease of using simply their own laptop and camera from home automatically puts kids at ease. The idea of peer to peer teaching also encourages the learners to feel less shy about asking questions to getting help with a problem.  

What do the teachers get?  
Why are teenagers so keen to share learning instead of playing around in their free time? Though the NGO does not pay them, the tutors earn credit hours as volunteer activity. This is helpful for a lot of high school students, who would rather work on something they love than syllabus prescribed volunteer and extracurricular activities. What’s more, these hours really count when they are on student resumes while applying to colleges. Most tutors enjoy the experience of sharing the magic of coding with other children. In fact, Codivate has been interviewing tutors to understand the level of motivation before assigning them. More than 450 kids have already attended classes, and both teacher and student seem happy about the project.