In late April, 24 students from Wahpeton Middle School participated in Exploration Day at the North Dakota State College of Science to learn about computer programming and to get a taste of college. The programming workshop used animation software called “Alice”, which features an animated character named Alice to teach concepts in computer programming.

“The kids absolutely loved the session," said Wahpeton teacher Doreen Oliphant.  "They were so pumped! There were kids in the session that are struggling students, but their potential really shined through that day. Some kids said that they now know what they want to go into."

The Computer Information Systems (CIS) department is currently modifying curriculum to use "Alice" as a teaching tool for its programming classes. Michael Schuler served as lead presenter and Bonnie Schillinger and Connie Schwantz assisted.

As it has for the past several years, the NDSCS  CIS department provides opportunities for area high school, middle school and grade school students to come to campus and participate in events that highlight information technology or the sciences.

In addition to Exploration Day, the department hosts a Breckenridge program called “Funtastic Fridays” for several Fridays each February.

In the past, the CIS department has:

• hosted web page workshops, led by Schillinger and Schwantz,
• coordinated  workshops for machine tooling and robotics, led by Steve Johnson and Tim Thompson respectively, and
• coordinated workshops for biology, led by Cheryl Brown.

A conservative estimate of the number of 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade students attending these workshops would be over 500, said Jeff Watne, CIS department chairman at NDSCS.