FREEPORT – At Freeport High School last Thursday, students watched a video on computer programming.

Following the video, the students conducted some self-guiding exercises, and this Thursday, Dec. 12, they will talk to teachers and advisers on what they learned.

“Between those two days, students will have the opportunity to learn about programming,” said Seth Thompson, director of technology in Regional School Unit 5. “I think it’s going to help the people who aren’t normally exposed to this.”

Similar efforts to introduce students to computer programming have been implemented in the past week at all RSU 5 schools. It’s all part of a program called “Hour of Code,” during which an estimated 15,000 Maine students spent an hour learning computer technology, according to the organizers at Code.org. The national initiative to “demystify” computer science is being sponsored by Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, LinkedIn, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebok, the College Board, the Boys & Girls Clubs, and more than 100 other partners.

In RSU 5, Thompson worked with computer technicians Jim Grant, Jai Wescott and Dylan Whitegiver, and teachers at each school.

“There’s four of us,” Thompson said, as students asking for help with something streamed in and out of his office, “so I’m not doing this on my own. It’s a busy team of year for us.”

The middle school and elementary school Hour of Code programs are classroom-based, he said.

At Freeport Middle School, trimester 1 tech students served as a support team to students in the rest of the building. All students began with a 5-minute movie as an overview, and then worked through some of the tutorials.

At Durham Community School, Deb Bartlett led tutorials in grades 2, 3 and 5. Students in grade 4 received an introduction to the Tynker program, and those in grades 6-8 learned about Java Script.

At Pownal Elementary School, Karl Crosman taught first- and second-graders how to use the Kodable app on iPads, while students in grades 3-5 used the Blockly website.

At Mast Landing School, Liza Moora taught students how to script their own Scratch projects, and to participate in online coding tutorials. Students learned about CodeAvengers, CodeMonster, Tynker and Code.org.

At Morse Street School, Crosman helped students use the Kodable app on iPads.

Thompson said that programming “is behind everything these days,” and this type of initiative can open some eyes.

“A bunch of people are trying to promote computer science and programming in our schools,” he said. “What this organization is asking is for is as many students as possible in our schools to take one hour to practice programming. The website has put together the exercises. If I had this exposure when I was younger, I would have had some additional opportunities I didn’t have. I think it’s going to help people who otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to this.

“There will be more opportunities,” he said, “and the Internet and mobile devices are replacing things we no longer need. People need to develop software, and from what I can tell that hasn’t peaked.”

Seth Thompson, director of technology for Regional School Unit 5, sits in his crowded computer lab at Freeport High School. Thompson and other technology experts within RSU 5 have been busy the past week, conducting programming tutorials in all six schools designed to familiarize students with computer programming.