The following week long classes will be offered from 5th to 9th July from 9.30-12.30 at First Cumberland Presbyterian Church off Westland drive in West Knoxville. The programming classes require a laptop, but we do have a few laptops to rent out at $25 per session per week. Macs or PCs can be used.

Select one class in each session (or just attend one session). Each
session is 90 minutes long and all materials are provided as part of the cost.

Price: $45 for one session for the week, $90 for two sessions. $5
discount per session for more than one member from the same family.

9.30am-11am classes

Programming Animations and Games with Alice (grades 7-12)
The Alice programming language was developed at Carnegie Mellon
specifically to make programming accessible to everyone - not just
computer geeks. It uses drop-down menus with commands and you populate
the worlds you create with 3D characters. It is more complex than
Scratch and provides a good basis from which to continue and learn Java.
You can find many examples of programs created on Youtube.
A laptop is needed for this class. Alice can be downloaded free of
charge.

Computer Science Unplugged (grades 5-8)

Computer Science Unplugged will teach principles of Computer Science
such as binary numbers, sorting algorithms and data compression through engaging games and puzzles.

The Cinematic Eye: Learning the aesthetics of film (grades 6-12)

Learn about how to compose beautiful movies, paying attention to the
composition of every frame. We will study lighting, color, mis-en-scene and how to create depth in a frame among other things!

In the class, students will learn theory, watch and critiqu short films,and finally, apply what they learn by telling a story through a series of photographs!

Need: A camera (any digital camera is fine)

11am - 12.30pm classes

Programming games and animations with Scratch (grades 5-12)

Scratch was developed at MIT and is suitable for students age 8 through high school. With Scratch you can easily create interactive stories, animations and games, and then share them with your friends. But even though it is so much fun, young people are actually learning important mathematical and computational ideas.

A laptop is needed for this class. Scratch can be downloaded free of
charge.

How a computer works (grades 6-12)

In this class we will explore the insides of a computer and work
together to build a computer from various parts. Students will also
build a computer virtually, selecting components from various online
stores. This will allow them to gain experience for when they want to
actually build their own computer.We will also explore different
operating systems.

Cinematic Stories: Learning to write Hollywood-standard screenplays (grades 6-12)

Do you love writing? This is a fun exploration of a very different style of writing. In this class, students will learn to use screenwriting software. They will study the Hollywood standards and expectations for a script and the Hero's Journey - the story model for most Hollywood films.

A laptop is recommended for this class, but not essential.

Your Instructors

Meryl van der Merwe

Meryl started teaching programming to students at computer camps over 25 years ago when she ran the first computer camps in South Africa. She has run her own software business and is currently teaching computer programming at Thursday Connection.

Rachel van der Merwe

Rachel is a senior at film school in Los Angeles. She has won several
awards for her films and will be producing a film in Japan this upcoming January.

Jason van der Merwe

Jason is a high school senior who has run his own computer repair
business for the past 2 years and has built his own computers since he
was 13. He was the winner of the State 4-H Computers and Technology
Project Competition in 2008 and has been the assistant teacher in an
Introduction to Programming class this past year.