December 5, 2017

RMS Students Learn About Computer Science from a Fermilab Computer Scientist

Mike Zalokar, computer scientist, Fermilab National Laboratory

Mike Zalokar, Fermilab computer scientist at Rotolo Middle School

Argonne National Lab, Fermilab, and the University of Chicago have teamed up to send out computer scientists to schools during Computer Science Education Week, December 4-10. The professionals are sharing their journeys to becoming a computer scientist and what they do in their current jobs.

RMS computer teacher, Kelly Bennett, completed a form to request a computer scientist and was quickly partnered with Mike Zalokar, a computer scientist from Fermilab.

“One of the units in our sixth-grade computer curriculum is programming,” explained Mrs. Bennett. “This week was the beginning of the unit and fit in perfectly with Hour of Code [try it!], which takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week.”

During his visit, Mr. Zalokar spoke to RMS sixth graders about careers involving coding, Python programming, and learning new programming languages. He also shared that he has worked at Fermilab for 17 years and currently oversees Fermilab’s network permissions. After his presentation, Mr. Zalokar and Mrs. Bennett helped students as they worked through the Google Doodle (try it!) hour of code activity.

Connecting education beyond the school experience is always a good thing!