Here at Kodecoon Academy, we want our students to grow Beyond Coding — to be experts in programming but also help improve the community around them by making positive disruptions and innovative solutions.
With that said, Kodecoon Academy is proud to commend the efforts of Lincoln Jude Zhang Lehan, Chloe Lem Yu Han, and Teiw Yong Sheng Jayden for participating in the National Primary Games Creation and Coding Competition (NPGCC) 2022!
The trio worked together through their school holidays to prepare for this competition. They brainstormed ideas, created their posters for submission, and started working on their Scratch game in relation to the theme they had chosen. However, despite their hard work and efforts, the trio team did not manage to proceed to the final round of the competition. While many others would have stopped there and then, the three of them did not give up and persevered through to make an impact by proceeding with their project. They continued to execute their project and raised funds that were donated to Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home.
At Kodecoon Academy, we want to celebrate and recognize the resilience of our students’ efforts.
What is the competition about?
The National Primary Game Creation Coding Competition (NPGC3) for Primary 3 to 6 is an annual competition organized by Wellington Primary School, to provide a platform for students in Singapore to showcase their talents and creativity in developing computer games.
The theme for this year’s competition is ‘Smart Nation – Landscaping Singapore with a Green Plan’.They aim to encourage participants to create interesting and innovative digital games which focus on the nationwide movement to advance Singapore’s national agenda on sustainable development and feature five key pillars: City in Nature, Sustainable Living, Energy Reset, Green Economy, and Resilient Future.
We were thrilled to find out the students’ overall experience taking on this challenge so we got our all-time favorite Teacher Deddy to interview Lincoln, Chloe, and Jayden. Teacher Deddy mentored this team of 3 throughout their competition journey and also helped them scope out organizations they can make an impact on by raising funds with a campaign on Give.Asia. Let’s read what the kiddos have to say about their riveting experience!
Hi guys, tell us about yourself and when you started coding!
J: Hi, my name is Jayden and I like to play computer games. I started coding 2 years ago in 2020!
C: Hi, my name is Chloe and one interesting fact about me is that my birth certificate has my surname wrong so instead of it being Lim, the nurse wrote Lem like the sheep. I started coding in 2019 when I was in Primary 3!
L: Hi, my name is Lincoln and I started coding 2 years ago in 2020 when I was 10 years old. We are from Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School and were from the same class in Primary 4!
What coding courses have you learned so far?
C: I have learned Scratch block-based programming, mobile apps development with AppInventor, web programming like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, Python, and also Maker Technopreneurship Programme which is an engineering and design-oriented class, combining ideas from arts, tools from social sciences, and insights from the business world.
J: I have also learned Scratch block-based programming and mobile app development with AppInventor and LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 where I learned programming using MicroPython and built LEGO® robots learning robotics.
L: Similar to Chloe, but I have also learned Micro:bit where I programmed a tiny computer, and Spark AR where I created Instagram filters!
What made you choose this topic of combating myopia for your project?
C: We think that myopia is a growing issue and now people are more exposed to their screens and it affects one’s eyesight so we decided to head into this topic.
L: We spent a lot of time on Zoom as a group during our June Holidays discussing and voicing our ideas. We also think children are at a higher risk of harming their eyesight, especially with the increasing screen time. With that we want to see how we can help children who cannot afford eye checks and preventive treatment for myopia, to have access to the resources.
Why did you select this particular organization to be the beneficiary?
J: It was Teacher Deddy who connected us with this organization. He recommended that we read up and that he could help us contact the person in charge to make it possible.
C: We thought it would be more meaningful for the beneficiaries of Chen Su Lan since 63% of the myopia cases in Singapore start from 11 years old.
L: The funds we raised would then be utilized for the children to go for eye check-ups and to purchase glasses!
Can you recall the day when the finalist result was out?
L: Oh yes I vividly remember that day! I had just finished tuition and was walking down from my tuition centre and heading towards the bus stop. While walking Chloe sent the message saying we did not qualify for the finals and I remember reading it and kept asking “Are you sure?”. I was so sad and I teared up a little.
C: Yes, my mum was the one who checked the Facebook page that day and informed me. I was really upset and was more confused as to why we did not make it and thought our efforts were futile.
J: I was quite upset hearing the news since we worked on this project during the holidays and did not understand why we could not make it to the finals. We did not think that we wouldn’t qualify and had gone ahead and finished up the QR code and Scratch game alongside the Give.Asia donation platform.
Needless to say, we were disheartened to find out that the students had not made it to the finals. So much had already been done and many initiatives had to be put on hold. Teacher Deddy supported the team and had been keen on them still proceeding with the project. After all, the campaign was set to go, communications to Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home were happening and the Scratch game was done. Teacher Deddy provided the team with words of encouragement and cheered them on to continue with their efforts.
What made you still pursue this project and not give up?
C: I did not want to give up. I remember thinking “what is the point of this fundraising if it was just for the sake of a competition?” I even sent this message to the group and wanted to move forward with the fundraising project.
L: Initially I did want to give up and stop because I did not understand why we were not finalists after all the effort we had put in.
J: After that gloomy weekend, we moved forward to execute this project despite this failure and aimed to increase our goal by 50% to $1.5k to give to Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home.
I did not want to give up. I remember thinking “what is the point of this fundraising if it was just for the sake of a competition?
Chloe
How did you all move forward?
J: Lincoln contacted the Head of Department in our school for Character and Citizenship Education and she helped to point us toward Mrs Poey, our school principal, who gave us the opportunity to showcase our work.
L: We prepared slides to present to the school during the morning assembly period. We added in the audio as we voice recorded our presentation and scripted it to be presented to the whole school. Hearing our voices being presented felt surreal on that day.
C: During morning assembly the video was live streamed to all classrooms. We even printed 50 flyers from Give.Asia and spent 20 minutes of class time going over to each classroom and putting up the flyers on their notice board.
Previously Jayden mentioned raising $1.5k, why this amount?
L: We initially thought of raising $1000 but we thought if $1000 is possible then increasing our budget by 50% should be doable too!
J: We ended up raising $1505 instead and were we proud? OF COURSE!
What was the most difficult part of executing this project?
L: There was a point in time when I was stressed out and school work was looming and this felt more like a chore than something that made me feel relaxed. I do think the timing of everything was stressful for me but thankfully it all worked out!
C: I think the toughest part of this project was that we tend to lose focus when we start talking or playing games and lose sight of the task at hand. Getting our head back into the focus zone was tough and tested my ability to reach and finish the goal in mind.
Who did you turn to for advice when faced with challenges?
C: I mainly consulted teacher Deddy for help when needed and let him guide the team through the obstacles and challenges we faced.
L: At stress points, I turned to God and prayed together with my mother so that the project could be a success and the strength to handle the stress of it all. I also informed Jayden and Chloe who were very supportive and did not pressure me when I felt overwhelmed.
J: I asked my group for advice and we pulled through as a team and made it finish by raising this money and putting it to good use!
I felt proud because who would think 3 eleven-year-old kids could raise $1.5k and use their coding talent to make an impact in the community?
Chloe
What is your biggest takeaway from all you have accomplished from this project?
L: We worked together as a team and as long as we have one another and worked together, we can achieve the end goal that we have in mind. I think we all played a part in this project.
J: My biggest takeaway is that I can rely on my teammates Chloe and Lincoln to achieve this end goal and go out of our way to fully make this project a success!
C: I would say that working with Lincoln and Jayden allowed me to bond with them and made it more special and memorable. With them, I can conquer big challenges and be fun.
Trip to Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home
How did you feel when you met the manager at Chen Su Lan?
J: At first it was awkward but after warming up, we felt immensely proud of our achievement as a team. I was happy we reached our goal.
L: I felt accomplished and proud that we made it this far and our project was not a failure but a success.
C: I felt proud because who would think 3 eleven-year-old kids could raise $1.5k and use their coding talent to make an impact in the community?
Any advice to fellow peers to take part in such initiatives?
L: I would advise anyone to go for it, we didn’t think or even imagine that this project would lead up to the end, and hey you will never know what you achieve unless you pull through and finish it! Never give up and keep persevering in difficulties.
C: I think anyone should just do it and enjoy the experience, not stress too much but experience it all and learn from your mistakes. Live in the moment and cherish your failures and struggles. Don’t stop or give up 🙂
J: I would advise them not to give up and to dream big. Never give up even if things seem impossible.
Lastly, would you like to give a shoutout or special thank you to anyone?
J: I would like to thank my group mates Lincoln and Chloe for being supportive and fun group mates.
C: I would like to thank Lincoln and Jayden my group mates for the memories. I would like to thank Teacher Deddy for his support in guiding us and helping us when to us, it seemed impossible. I would like to thank my parents for all their support and for helping me to navigate through it by giving me ideas.
L: First of all, thank you to my mother for being a pillar of support, thank you to Chloe and Jayden for being great team players, and thank you to Teacher Deddy for supporting us throughout this project. Thank you to Give.Asia for providing us with a platform to raise funds and for Chen Su Lan team for being so gracious, kind, and open to us.
Kodecoon Academy is extremely proud of Chloe, Jayden, and Lincoln’s efforts to take part in the NPGC3 competition and despite not qualifying for the finals, persevering and taking the initiative to raise funds for Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home. We are truly inspired by these 3 students going out of their way to make a positive impact in the community. Well done Chloe, Jayden, and Lincoln!
At Kodecoon Academy, our mission is to help our children of tomorrow channel their creativity to transform ideas into concrete realities beyond coding! We wish to shape more young talents to be tech-savvy, team-spirited learners in the field of STEM and make a positive impact in their community.
If you are keen to embark your child on an exciting coding journey, do contact us to find out more about our coding classes and register for our FREE trial classes today! You can also check out a brief introduction of our trial classes here for more information!