Washington State University’s College of Education, Sport, and Human Sciences will host its free summer programming camp for the ninth consecutive year, offering middle school students the chance to develop computational thinking and problem-solving skills.
The in-person camp runs Aug. 11–15 at WSU Pullman. A virtual option, now in its sixth year, will also be offered Aug. 4–8 to make the camp accessible to students outside the Pullman area.
Sola Adesope, associate dean for research and external funding, professor of educational psychology, and camp founder, said coding at a young age benefits students’ cognitive development, enhancing their problem-solving, mathematical, and creative skills.
“Unlike urban areas where K–12 students have an abundance of such camps, opportunities like this are often scarce in rural areas,” Adesope said. “This camp fills a critical gap and advances our land-grant mission of positively impacting our community by providing much-needed STEM training and support for middle school students.”
This camp fills a critical gap and advances our land-grant mission of positively impacting our community by providing much-needed STEM training and support for middle school students.
Sola Adesope, camp founder
Washington State University
Graduate research assistant Funso Oje, who has helped with the camp for several years, said the hands-on, game-based curriculum keeps students engaged.
“Students are actively building, experimenting, and solving problems, and they see their progress in real time,” Oje said. “We designed the curriculum to be fun and engaging by tying coding into building a game.”
Oje noted that middle schoolers’ natural curiosity and openness to learning make this an ideal time to introduce coding, which also teaches persistence.
“When their code doesn’t work the first time, they learn to debug, try again, and not give up,” he said. “Those are powerful life skills that go beyond tech. Coding is also becoming a fundamental skill, much like math, and early exposure prepares students for the future.”
Chloe Dydasco, a doctoral candidate in educational psychology, added that coding at this age helps students retain concepts and better understand real-world programming careers.
“Like learning any other language or skill, exposure to coding from a young age, with continuous practice, helps solidify concepts in students’ long-term memory,” she said. “Seeing their code come to life in games and troubleshooting errors gives them insight into what coders and programmers do daily as a career.”
The camp continues to make a meaningful impact in the community by equipping students with critical STEM skills and fostering curiosity, creativity, and resilience — all while having fun.
