George Washington School sixth grader Yonah Lalehzari recently completed all the levels in KidOyO, the district’s coding program. He is now the first student in the West Hempstead School District who has started the process of becoming a Student Mentor for the program.
“I really found it challenging at first,” Yonah said. “I couldn’t follow it in the beginning and one day, things just clicked, and I was confident enough to do this on my own.”
Student Mentors are responsible for grading and checking all the challenges that students submit. Yonah will be tasked with writing his own course and challenge, where he does all the grading.
“It’s such a high honor,” said George Washington STELLAR teacher Dara Perlow. “No one else has gotten this honor, but he’s very deserving of this. I’m so incredibly proud of his dedication and hard work.”
Yonah started working on KidOyO at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. As he completed challenges at a quicker pace, he started using the program every day and even during his free time.
“I felt gratitude once I completed this, because I’m glad I didn’t give up on this,” Yonah said. “Ms. Perlow was my inspiration in completing KidOyO. I’m really looking forward to creating my own challenges for students.”
