YEPP concluded its first YES Code! day bootcamp (February 17th–21st), which introduced registered children to the Robogarden Playground gamified coding journey. A total of 13 children from migrant backgrounds participated in the camp. The experience of organizing and facilitating the camp ranged from frustrating to exhilarating. The excitement continued past the closing date and time—Friday, February 21st, at 7 pm at the Pasilan Nuoristotalo in Helsinki—to 2:30 am on Saturday, February 22nd, when I saw a WhatsApp message from one of the participating students: “I cracked the code… where is my prize money?” My eyes snapped wide open, I grinned, and exclaimed, “YES! That’s the YES Code! spirit.” The person who “cracked the code” is Candace, a teenage girl, aged 14yrs, one of the latecomers to the camp.
BACKGROUND:
On the 17th, we had 5 participants—3 boys and 2 girls, ranging from 10 to 14 years old. Three of the students quickly reached the “red cups” challenge (level) within one hour of the two-hour session, but became stuck and could not progress further. Soon, all five were at the same level, stuck, and unable to advance. Operating under the principle that “failure is a learning journey,” we ended the first class with instructions for them to continue trying until they found the correct program prompt to advance.
Over the following days, more students joined, totaling 13. However, by the last session on Friday, February 21st, no one had managed to surpass that level. There were grumblings about it being “impossible,” a “fault with the platform,” “we’re bored, help us,” and “are we going to be stuck here forever?”—motivation and morale were low. To boost motivation, we offered a 20€ prize for the first person to move beyond that level. The atmosphere became charged. Liisa moved seats to work with Cambridge, while others, including Candace, rushed through lower levels to participate in the competition. At the end of the class, no one had passed that level.
GIFT AS MOTIVATION:
On the last day of the camp, we decided to motivate the students and encourage them to put in their best efforts with repeated attempts, as we noticed the low motivation after several failed attempts. We agreed that those who were further ahead could teach the steps to their fellow students and be paid a rate of 5 euros per class, billed to the child’s parents. This quickly changed their approach—everyone wanted to earn that 5 euros, and nobody wanted to pay it out.
PERCEIVED STUDENT CHALLENGES:
While focusing on a task was one problem, it was not the most prevalent challenge. We perceived resilience, problem-solving skills, and critical thinking to be the most common challenges. Unfortunately, these challenges were primarily exhibited by the girls. We also found that not all children have their own personal computers (we disallowed the use of mobile phones due to potential distractions from other activities). We perceived this as detrimental to their ability to focus on schoolwork.
HIGHLIGHTS AND EXCITEMENT:
* Lisa leaving her seat to work with Cambridge.
* Venessa, Destiny and others finally pass a level initially declared impossible and shrieking with joy.
* The silence in the room as everyone concentrated on coding.
* They all had their phones, but ignored them.
* Maude tries to convince her older brother to work with her to move from the “red cups” level.
* Cambridge made multiple attempts at the “red cups” level without giving up.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHALLENGES:
They came for the coding as well as the after-event meet and greet. We had to cap the participants due to budget limitations. We will need a sponsor for the meet and greet next time.
Without a coding background, facilitating a coding class was headache-inducing, even though the class was K-12. We are looking for a coding-experienced/expert volunteer facilitator for next time.
NEXT STEPS:
Searching for sponsors for snacks, prizes, and coders to volunteer as facilitators for our next coding event (CODE APRIL).
By Christal Spel | Published on March 8, 2025.