MONROE, CT — Masuk High School student Bhuvan Hospet, who ran an advanced coding class and an introductory coding class to raise money for the Monroe Food Pantry with his peers, reformulated his coding club ideas for Sacred Heart University and the Isabelle Farrington College of Education this year.
Hospet, a sophomore who takes Programming One and AP Computer Science Principles at Masuk, used his coding knowledge to help elementary school students across Connecticut during COVID-19 and online learning.
With the help of Project FUTURE, a computer science grant program at Sacred Heart University, Hospet used redesigned ideas from previous coding fundraisers for eight school districts as after-school clubs. These computer science coding programs introduced elementary school students to elements and basic techniques of coding.
Hospet worked closely with Bonnie Maur, the Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) director at Sacred Heart.
“If we start with students and teach them all of the aspects of STEM in elementary school, think about what they will be able to do when they get to the high school level,” said Maur, who helped to open STEM Academy in the Monroe school district nearly 11 years ago.
In return for his contribution, Project FUTURE and Sacred Heart University have given Hospet two three-credit college coding courses in the Taste of College program.
“As I got into middle school, exposure from my dad and my peers really encouraged me to get invested in coding,” Hospet said. “I think a lot differently when I do code compared to other subjects and skills. I definitely want to go into a STEM field, but I also want to explore my passions.”
Masuk Principal Steven Swenson was previously involved in STEM academics himself, while serving as a mathematics teacher at Avon High School.
“STEM to Masuk is vitaly important. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is the need to be technologically literate and to navigate the technological world,” Swensen said. “There is a growing increase in technology education and the State has finally made it a requirement for all students as well.”
