Seven Bloomington elementary students earned awards at the Coolest Projects Showcase held April 11 at the Science Museum of Minnesota. The event is organized by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to celebrate students from across the Midwest and the innovative creations they make with code.

A total of 35 students from Normandale Hills (NH), Oak Grove (OGE), Olson (OLE) and Ridgeview (RV) elementary schools entered projects into the showcase. Categories included Games, Hardware and Robotics, AI Use, and Scratch, which is storytelling and animations brought to life through block-based coding.

Students earning Judge’s Favorite awards include:

• Adrian Purcell (OLE), Hardware and Robotics
• Elton Bonnema (OGE), Hardware and Robotics category
• Gracie Diller and Kiara Johnson (NH), Scratch
• Lawrence Wong (OGE), Scratch
• Malina Vargas and Myra Hanson (NH), Games

The projects were created in after-school coding clubs led by school digital learning specialists, who say they’ve seen growing interest among students in grades 3-5 year over year.