Students Code, Dance, and Sing Their Way to Win the "So You Think You Can Code" Challenge

BOSTON, Feb. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Unruly Studios, the leading education company that combines coding and active play in classrooms, is ecstatic to announce the winners of its latest coding challenge, So You Think You Can Code!

Schools competed by submitting short videos of students showing off their dance moves, musical prowess, and coding skills. The winning submissions impressed judges by coding Unruly Splats in a variety of unexpected ways to create music, team dance routines, and even a recreation of a Harry Styles song.

"We were blown away by the display of talent in this competition," said Bryanne Leeming, CEO and Founder of Unruly Studios. "We really wanted students to get creative with this challenge. The schools ran with the prompt and created some amazing videos that demonstrate how combining learning to code with music and dance can help inspire the next generation of artists and technologists."

Throughout the month of December, dozens of schools across the US and Canada participated in the So You Think You Can Code challenge. Here are the winning videos (drum roll please!).

1. Best Overall Performance – Port Allen Middle School, Louisiana
2. Best Overall Code – New Hampton Middle School, Iowa
3. Teamwork Award – South Euless Elementary, Texas
4. School Spirit – Dr. John C. Wickwire Academy, Nova Scotia
5. Most Resilient – Dutchess Day School, New York

For the first time ever, Unruly Studios invited an esteemed panel of judges to help evaluate submissions based on demonstrated teamwork, coding excellence, creativity, and overall performance. The judges were Jonathan Jones, Cornerback for the New England Patriots; Dr. Beth Marcus, Sr. Principal Technologist at Amazon; and Jonathan Lee, Billboard Producer/Grammy Nominated Sound Engineer.

In addition to the musical challenge, schools had the option to participate in a two-day Stomp-etition with the goal to reach a collective goal of 2 million "stomps" on their Unruly Splats. In 48 hours, schools racked up 3,314,300 stomps, raising $6,000 for the Jonathan Jones Next Step Foundation to combat food insecurities for children.

Unruly Studios hosts regular international coding challenges that spark the competitive spirit of students and teachers alike, helping to inspire a love of computer science. To learn more about how your school or district can participate in future coding challenges, visit www.unrulysplats.com. 

About Unruly Studios

Unruly Studios is the creator of Unruly Splats, the first STEM learning tool that combines coding with active play. Unruly Studios' vision is to create an electronic playground that makes learning more playful, collaborative, and inclusive. The team is made up of experts in cognitive science, toy manufacturing, education, and technology who bring broad industry experience from Scratch, Hasbro, Mattel, Nickelodeon, iRobot, Disney, and MIT Media Lab.

Media Contact: 
Charlotte Ward
530-563-6860
 [email protected] 

SOURCE Unruly Studios