Jacko Develops Resilience with Code

Jacko Develops Resilience with Code

Jacko is our newest Featured Maker and is in the 6th grade! Coding is a way for Jacko to create anything that comes into his imagination. Along with coding, he plays guitar and has played for about 2 years now. Jacko is from Australia and his favorite subject in school is math–he is really good at it and loves challenges! Jacko and his mom, Kym, spoke with us about why Jacko loves coding and how it helps him with everything else in his life. Read on to learn more!

How did you get introduced to Tynker and how long have you been coding? My mom found it through school. I’ve been coding for about 3 or 4 years on Tynker.

How did you learn how to use Tynker when you were first starting out? To learn, I was actually looking at the community board and trying to learn from what they did.

How have your coding skills improved since you started using Tynker? A lot! Probably being able to solve glitches and fix the bugs.

How did you feel when you found out your project had been featured? I was pretty excited! I told my parents but not my friends because I’m shy!

What is your favorite project you’ve made so far? I think it might be my phone simulator that I made because it has Pokemon Go on it. I re-made it with my own art!

Super Phone Simulator

Where did you get the idea for your favorite project? I saw that other people had phone simulators so I decided to make my own. It took me about a year to make and to publish it as well, since I was adding in new Pokemon every time.

How do you get inspiration for your projects? Just see what everyone else is doing, like on the community board!

Why do you like to code? It’s just fun to make your own games!

What is your favorite way to use code? Probably my most used is ‘switch costume’. 

What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? It really depends on how far it is and how I think of it, like if I think it’s incomplete.

What are you planning to make next? Probably some more Minecraft textures.

What’s the best thing about Tynker? There is no limit to what you can make!

How do you think learning to code has prepared you for the future? I’m not really sure. It’s probably helping with my resilience!

Do you think other kids should try coding? Definitely, it is super fun. And I love to see what other people can make!

What advice would you give to kids starting out with Tynker? Even if you fail, never give up! Use other people’s projects to find out how everything works.

Kym, Jacko’s mom, shared her thoughts with us about Jacko learning how to code: “I think coding is essential and I love that he enjoys it. He’s very creative, so it helps him have that little outlet – it’s still stuck on a device, but it’s not wasted time!”

Kym wants to support Jacko in any way that she can: “I’ll support it by buying whatever he needs for it. I am the technology person at a school, so I see a lot of new trends and implement them in schools. He wants to do Python next, which is a nice step! I love seeing what he does. He challenges himself, which is good! It’s definitely helped him improve his resilience.”

We want to thank Jacko and Kym for taking the time to speak with us! We look forward to seeing Jacko’s future projects. Happy coding!