In order to encourage students, particularly young women, to pursue careers in STEM, President Obama visited a middle school this week to promote the expansion of computer science courses.

The students from Newark, N.J., participated in an ‘Hour of Code’ event, “learning how to create programming codes as part of Computer Science Education Week,” according to an article on USAToday.com.

"We're starting too late with regards to making sure that our young people know not only how to play video games, but also create a video game," Obama said in the article.

According to USAToday, President Obama said “it's particularly important for girls to get involved in computer science” and said that young women “are under-represented in the sciences.”

President Obama, the article said, wore a baseball cap that read “Hour of Code” while visiting the school, and said that "one of the great things about America is that we invent stuff and make stuff, not just use it.”

The White House also announced that “seven of the nation's largest school districts are joining more than 50 others to start offering introductory computer science courses.”

The districts, according to the article, “include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, Houston and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.” These districts will offer classes in both middle school and high school.

According to an article on ABCNews, The College Board, which runs the Advanced Placement programming allowing students to get college credit, “also introduced a new course called AP Computer Science Principles to start in fall 2016.”

The new course has an aim “to encourage females and underrepresented minorities to start training for careers in computers.”

"While no one is born a computer scientist, becoming a computer scientist isn't as scary as it sounds," President Barack Obama said in a video message. "With hard work and a little math and science, anyone can do it."

Read the full story and comment below. 

Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor