Programming competitions give children a reason to explain how an idea became a working project. At the final of the eighth Škrábej, kotě! competition at Centrum robotiky in Plzeň, I served on the jury and enjoyed listening to girls and boys talk about their first steps in programming. I am curious whether I will meet some of them again one day at AimtecHackathon.
The eighth annual final at Centrum robotiky focused on cyberbullying and safe behaviour online. Pupils could approach the topic through programming or visual art, giving them room to combine technical work with their own view of life in digital spaces.
Thirteen primary schools from Plzeň submitted 79 programming and visual-art entries. I represented the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the University of West Bohemia on a jury that also included Jakub Urbanec from SIT, lecturer and methodologist Miroslav Staněk, and Centrum robotiky director Vojtěch Škarda.
Hearing the young participants speak about their route into programming also connected the afternoon with a longer path through technical communities. Some of them may later bring their own projects to events such as AimtecHackathon, where I work with teams as a mentor.
Links
- Škrábej, kotě! 2026 final: Centrum robotiky's report on the competition theme, participating schools, jury and results.
- Mentoring at the 10th AimtecHackathon: A related story about supporting teams as they develop practical technology projects.