For the second year in a row, the Pascack Valley Computer Club will be hosting a programming workshop as part of a worldwide event called Hour of Code. This program teaches students basic coding through tutorials that generally work on any computer, smartphone, or tablet.

The Hour of Code event will be held on Dec. 10 during the Pascack Period and students will have the opportunity to sign up to attend. During the event, Mrs. Ricca and computer club volunteers will be on hand to help out. The location is to be determined, so stay tuned for more details.

The event reaches millions of students and even technology tycoons such as Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates have put together tutorials for people to try.

Mrs. Nancy Ricca, head of the Computer Club and computer science and JAVA teacher, is excited for this year’s program. She loves programming and her favorite part is writing a program that actually works when you try it out.

“It’s a great feeling of accomplishment. It’s like putting together a really big puzzle,” Ricca said.

Maggie Deegan, a junior, has been involved with this program in the past and says that it is a great opportunity for students to learn the basics of computers and programming. As there is a greater demand in many fields for people who know more complicated computer skills, this teaches important tools that students will most likely need to use in the future. In addition, many majors also require at least one computer science class.

“The Hour of Code is easy, fun, interactive and gives people an advantage when going into computer science related classes in the future,” Deegan said.

For more information on Hour of Code, visit Hour of Code’s official website.