Kenora Catholic District School Board

Now, every two weeks, a digital randomizer spins up a new student-generated challenge. Themes like “Make a rocket that launches” or “Build a Pong game” keep things fresh and encourage experimentation. Students collaborate to troubleshoot bugs, share ideas, and celebrate both successes and “happy accidents.”

“If you need help with one thing, like you have a bug in your program and you don’t know how to fix it, it’s always nice to have another person look at it a different way than you,” Ethan added.

Sweeney continues to guide the club with a light touch, offering encouragement, nudging problem-solving, and celebrating messy progress. The students have developed a rhythm: plan, code, test, refine, share. The tone has shifted from “Is this right?” to “Let’s try this…”

One of those students is Ethan Martin, who helped spearhead the idea alongside his friend Remi. “It was my idea, but Remi also wanted to help, and I want Remi’s help, because it’s easier with a friend,” Ethan explained.

The group wanted their club to be fun and creative, inspired by the idea of a game jam, where participants build a game around a chosen theme.  “That’s where you make a game, you have a theme, and you make it, then you present it,” Ethan said. “We thought that would be fun to do.”

Because the prompts are student-generated, the projects naturally reflect student interests and creativity. The randomizer keeps it fair, the ownership keeps it fun, and the collaborative spirit builds community.

This week, the group is stepping outside the world of Scratch and into Lego Spark Prime kits, designing and coding their own builds using various sensors.