Thomas Blake Middle School Students Attend CSforMA Event at Massachusetts State House 

MEDFIELD — Superintendent Jeffrey Marsden and Principal Nat Vaughn are pleased to share that 14 sixth-grade students from Thomas Blake Middle School attended the CSforMA Celebration of K-12 Computer Science at the Massachusetts State House in Boston on March 20. 

CSforMA is a non-profit organization that focuses on promoting access to quality computer science curricula in grades K-12 within the state of Massachusetts. At the student showcase during the event, sixth-grade students from the explorations class at Thomas Blake Middle School applied their computer science skills for legislators and business professionals to watch. 

“The innovative teaching of Technology Integration and Makerspace Specialist Diane Horvath and sixth-grade Science Teacher Marjorie Heim at Thomas Blake Middle School allowed for students to take advantage of this opportunity to apply essential technology skills to creative projects,” Thomas Blake Middle School Principal Nat Vaugh said. 

The event began with a listening session for legislators and staff to hear about the work CSforMA does to promote computer science education and to hear from a panel of middle school and high school students about why computer science is an essential subject in schools. 

Alex Wagner, Legislative Aide to Senator Rebecca Rausch, and Rob Tougas, Legislative Aide to Representative Marcus Vaughn, were invited to observe the projects and were impressed and eager to hear more about the students’ experiences.

Following the speaker session, students from about 15 Massachusetts schools shared their computer science projects with legislators and other advocates. Students from Thomas Blake Middle School showcased their project that explored physical computing and learning to code motors and LEDs while building with recycled materials and collaborating with peers.

“This experience reinforces our belief that computer science classes are essential components of our coursework at Medfield Public Schools,” Superintendent Jeffrey Marsden said. “We appreciate the legislators who work to support computer science programs and the opportunity for our students to visit the State House.”

In a rotating program at Thomas Blake Middle School, students in the Creative Collaborations Exploration Class build their skills in physical computing and cardboard construction. To introduce these concepts, Marjorie Heim and Diane Horvath created the “micro:bit Mini Golf course” project. Students learned how to program LEDs and small, simple motors called micro-servos to micro:bit. Micro:bits are beginner programmable devices that allow students to develop hands-on coding skills.  Using these programmables, students construct moving cardboard obstacles on their mini golf courses, such as windmills. For the mini golf course project, students work in teams to develop a theme, plan their course and divide up tasks to prepare for a “game day” at the end of the program. The students were thrilled when given the chance to be a part of the CS Student Showcase.

“It’s a joy to see students apply their learning to bringing an idea to life,” said Horvath, who attended the event with the students. “Seeing our kids thrive in the intersection of creativity and computer programming is exciting to watch.”

Heim, who joined her students at the event, added, “The technology students use to program their creations is a resource we’re lucky to be able to utilize in school.”

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