Kentwood — Right, left, down, start: students in computer teacher Andy Witczak’s enrichment class programmed characters on their Chromebooks, using code to move through a maze.
“It tells the cat, or whatever character you have, what to do. It’s really fun,” explained sixth-grader Natailee Gardner. “I love being in control with the computer of what characters do. It’s really fun to do that — seeing it all move around in the way I would like it.”
Four Pinewood Middle School students — Nataliee, sixth-grader Paul Adams and eighth-graders Akram Alshamali and Dawtcin Thluai — recently showcased what they are learning in coding during a visit to Lansing, where they presented with other Michigan students at the 2025 Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning Student Technology Showcase at the Capitol.
On a poster board and their Chromebooks, students presented games they made with programs including Scratch and Micro:bit and music created with the program EarSketch to MACUL members, other students and state representatives.
The goal was to show the progression of STEM skills acquired in middle school today, from foundational knowledge to applying programming logic to the emerging field of artificial intelligence and hardware integration, Witczak said.
“I find it exciting that you can make what you imagine and it’s really fun,” Akram said. “Before you start, you think of what you want to make and then you make it,” he said.
In the sixth- to eighth-grade enrichment class, Witczak focuses on STEM, including coding using computer science curriculum materials from Project STEM and Code.org.
“It’s kind of like career-connected learning,” the teacher said. “If they enjoy computer science or the different aspects of what coding might do, they could prepare for a career in something like that.”
Another highlight of the visit was a lesson in civics, Witczak said. Students met with staff members of Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, who gave them a tour of Nesbitt’s office inside the Capitol.
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