Draymond Green Learns To Code At Oakland High School In Push To Bridge Digital Divide
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- Warriors' star Draymond Green was at Oakland High Wednesday to learn how to code in a push for quality computer science classes for all kids.
Ms. Johnson's computer coding class was learning the first steps to creating their own basketball video game, but it attracted a lot of attention.
"Give it up for number 23, Draymond green," Ms. Green said.
The Warriors star dropped in to say hello, and then sat down with junior Dymond Allen to get some coaching on the fundamentals of writing code. He quickly learned how much the world is changing.
"It's completely different. But, like I said before, it's moving in a direction where the world is moving, so it's unique for sure. But I think it's definitely needed," Green said.
But, in a connected world, what's also needed is access to the internet, and for some students that's not exactly a slam-dunk.
"We really are concerned about our kids not having access at home and that's something that we can't always address, so we compensate for that," Teacher Diane Johnson said.
The school allows kids to work with Wi-Fi before and after class. But now, Sprint has announced a program to give one million wireless hotspots to schools over the next five years.
Oakland Unified has already received 500 of the devices, and will lend them to seniors as they prepare for college.
"And after they've all got into college, they'll turn them in and we'll use them with next year's seniors and then the seniors after that, as well," Bernard McCune with Oakland Unified School District said.
It's an idea that even a rookie programmer can appreciate.
"As basketball has taken me so many places, computers can take you so many places," Green said.