President Trump recently honored Code Talkers at the White House. The Navajo Code Talkers used their native language to invent a secret military code. Their Navajo language was tricky and was not written down. So the US Marines recruited them to help transmit information. They created more than 200 new Navajo words for military terms and committed them to memory. “I studied on my own at night,” Joe Hosteen Kellwood, one of the code talkers, said of his training. “You had to memorize all the words at the time, 211 words. They were long words. I spelled it. I learned.”The code was vital to the US victory in the Pacific in World War II. The Navajo code proved much faster than the encrypting machines being used at the time. You can read more about the Navajo Code Talkers here.

All of this has perfect timing. This week is Computer Science Education Week.

Read below from Code.org:

What is the Hour of Code?

The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify “code”, to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities but expanding to all sorts of community efforts. Check out the tutorials and activities. This grassroots campaign is supported by over 400 partners and 200,000 educators worldwide.

When is the Hour of Code?

The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. The 2017 Computer Science Education Week will be December 4-10, but you can host an Hour of Code all year round. Computer Science Education Week is held annually in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906).

Why computer science?

Every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science. It helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. By starting early, students will have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path.

Let’s start with… Minecraft! Minecraft is back for the Hour of Code with a brand new activity!

Try these 14 levels and then move on to another coding activity here.