Red Cross Elementary School is inviting students’ parents to the school for the district’s inaugural Family Coding Night.

Justin Browning, who spoke to the Daily News via email, said the idea is to allow students to show their parents and other interested community members what they’re learning about computers in school. The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 13.

Teaching parents about the value of computer science and coding is important, Browning said.

“My generation had very limited access to (computer science) training at any level, but, as students, our world was nowhere near as digital,” he said. “Today’s students live in a digital world that is reinventing itself annually, and whether students dream of starting their own business or being an astronaut, a background in computer science will be extremely valuable.”

Browning said he wants parents to understand the importance of coding and why the district values teaching the skill.

Interested people may RSVP for Family Coding Night at the Barren County Schools website, www.barren.k12.ky.us.

“Adults will be mentored by students in a one-to-one setting,” Browning said. “You will see students leading their parents and others through coding lessons.”

Computer science and coding courses teach programming languages and develop “a way of thinking” that gives students a better understanding of how computers work, Browning said.

According to Browning, all Red Cross students take a computer science fundamentals course, in which the coursework “ranges in complexity based on grade level and student experience.”

By the time students reach third grade, he said, the curriculum involves coding, programming and app development.

Coding instruction continues beyond the elementary level in Barren County Schools, with a year-long coding course for eighth-graders at Barren County Middle School and a class at Barren County High School in which students develop apps for Android and Apple devices.

Shana Vincent, a computer sciences fundamentals teacher at Red Cross, said the district want parents to see and understand what their children are learning.

“We’re asking a lot of the community people to come in and our students’ families to come in,” she said. “We mainly want to show them what we’re teaching them.”

Vincent said Family Coding Night is an Hour of Code event, in which schools demonstrate online computer science teaching material from Code.org, a nonprofit organization that aims to expand access to computer science.

“Basically, we’re going to let the kids show them what coding is about and how they’ll be using coding in the future,” she said.