Coding Class Gives Code Poets the “Opportunity to Create Artistic Content All Over the Internet”

By Hei Hei, ACE Poetry Contest Mascot, San Francisco International High School, and Haibin Yu Yu, Student, SFIHS

We ACE Poetry Contest Mascots know about poetry – that it comes in all kinds of shapes, sizes, sounds and types. In today’s world, even computer and software code are poetry.

These abstract technology code poems are pixel perfect with their sequence of one and zero numbers. The abstract technology features vector lines and binary matrix code and comes with names like Python (scary snake stuff), Java (the Hutt?) Linux (Samosa, is that a type of cat?) and C++ (not a grade you want on your report card.)

Here’s a report from one of the students at SFIHS who loves to write code poetry.

My name is Haibin and I am currently a senior at SFIHS. I was born in China but raised in Mexico. I moved to the US two and a half years ago in order to pursue a better education and a better future. In college I’m interested in pursuing a career of Computer Science or Software Engineering.

Having a coding class at school that is part of the ACE Learning Center at SFIHS and is a really great opportunity for students to learn and practice an essential skill that will be necessary for our future since technology is taking over the world. For me personally, I really enjoy coding because it gives me the opportunity to create artistic content all over the internet. Having a coding class has also helped me to make my first step to college since the core of my career of interest is to code and by having a coding class right now, I have had the opportunity to jumpstart my learning.

Since we have amazing instructors, my classmates and myself really enjoy working and learning with them. We think that coding is an important skill to have because technology and computers are growing over time and by understanding computer languages, we will be prepared for the future.

I believe that having electives at school is crucial for students’ academic development and for our path to college. Being able to take courses and learn based on our interests can guide us to our career of interest and get a prior knowledge that will help us prepare for college.

In addition, electives play a very important role regarding college admissions. Colleges expect you to have a set of classes in your transcript, but they also expect you to have electives. Having electives can show your commitment to education/school.

If I could have another elective class, I would like to have a Chinese class. Since I was born in China but raised in Mexico, my Chinese is not really good. Having the opportunity to learn my language would be awesome.