
In order to compete in a global economy, higher education institutions, K-12 schools, government officials, school districts, teachers, and afterschool programs must provide students with opportunities to acquire computational thinking and twenty-first century skills. In the United States, thousands of new jobs in areas such as computer science, database administration, software development, and information research open each year; yet, there are not enough American students graduating with those degrees, thus having to fill computing positions with international workers. In addition, other professional fields such as healthcare, education, financial services, and administration are becoming more technology dependent, requiring their employees to acquire computational skills. Recognizing this need, and the often-disheartening lack of opportunities outside the classroom for students to be inspired and to acquire computational skills, the College of Education at the University of West Georgia opened a coding club for kids 7-17 in the spring of 2014 named uCode@UWG. This chapter presents those efforts, and the current status of the program.