Children under the care of Hemmersbach Kids’ Family enter the IT industry
One of the main goals of Hemmersbach Kids’ Family in Poland is to provide children from children’s homes with access to high-quality education. We show the children their opportunities and support them in developing their interests.
IT Course in the Children’s Home
One of the ways to achieve this is the IT course which we run in the children’s home in Oborniki Śląskie. Twice a week, ten teenagers aged between 14 and 18 explore the secrets of the IT industry. The course they attend is to give them basic knowledge about the operation and use of computers and to prepare them for the next stage that we are preparing for them – a programming academy.
Learning by Acting
Young participants of the course are confident that these classes are completely different from ordinary computer science classes at school. Each teenager works on his or her own computer that they have gotten from Hemmersbach. There is ample time to talk and ask questions. Everything that is discussed in class, young people can immediately put into practice. During workshops, run in a relaxed atmosphere, everyone can learn how a computer is built, unscrew its housing and examine its content carefully. Tasks related to everyday computer use, enriched with puzzle games, engage kids and make learning a lot of fun!
Knowledge is Contagious
The substantive part of the course and running the classes is the responsibility of one of our employees, Kamil Grabowski, who has been working for Hemmersbach as Software Developer for three years.
“I have arranged the course program in such a way as arouse the kids’ interest”, says Kamil. “To achieve this, you need to provide a variety of topics and pay attention to practical issues that the participants deal with on a daily basis.”
Kamil also engaged in this initiative other specialists from Hemmersbach, and together, devoting two afternoons a week, they conducted classes at the children’s home. Thanks to their enthusiasm and professional approach, they connected with the teens and infected them with their passion.
From Ethics to Coding
Our employees started the course with a general introduction of the IT industry. They mentioned what professions are needed in IT and what are their characteristics. Then, they talked about issues related to Internet security and the ethics of using the network.
“We talked about the first huge computers and the beginning of the Internet”, says Kamil. “After that, we could move to the practical part of the course.”
The subsequent exercises provided the kids with the basic knowledge of Windows 10 operating system and the Google services package. In the last part of the course, it progresses to the introduction to programming, i.e. logic puzzles, writing simple code and using the command line in Windows. We are convinced that, after they have completed the course, the ten IT apprentices will have knowledge that will enable them to move on to more advanced topics.
