Boher Bytes a winner!

Friday, June 16, was a memorable one for Boher Community Development Group, Boher Bytes Coding Club, Boher NS and the entire community when three projects from the coding club and school were presented at the Dream Space Showcase at Microsoft Headquarters in Dublin and one project received an award.

Dream Space Showcase is an exciting event that celebrates innovation in rural primary schools and clubs as part of the Do Your Bit challenge. In collaboration with OurKidsCode (Trinity College) and the Department of Rural and Community Development, this project aims to promote and engage under-represented groups in STEM education, particularly students from rural areas with limited access to such opportunities. The project focuses on areas with Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) and this year the counties of Tipperary and Longford were chosen.

Boher Community Development Group established the Our Kids Code family coding programme in October 2022 and have delivered it to 19 families in Boher. This programme was run on a volunteer basis and was free to all families. The community group has now established its long-term coding club - Boher Bytes - in Boher BCP (Boher Parish Hall) and this club submitted a project called ‘iVote’, which tackled the problem of making the Irish political voting system universally accessible to all. Their project entailed a universally accessible voting booth with coded microbits that allowed people with disabilities to vote through a variety of methods such as touch, sound and gesture. This project won the overall ‘Our Kids Code’ club award at the Microsoft Dream Space Showcase.

Boher NS entered two projects - Magic Moods and CTR8 - from their Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth classes. The students have been working on these projects, which looked at emotional well-being and regulation and sustainable communities through environmental choices, since January under the guidance of their teachers David Horan, Christine Ryan, Claire Boland and Michael Kennedy.

It was a wonderful experience for the children of Boher to visit and be part of Microsoft Dream Space 2023. All involved acknowledge the help and support of Tina Mulhearne (Digital manager BCP) and Simon Howe (Broadband Officer), Tipperary County Council.