COEUR d'ALENE - Nico Willett, 10, raised his arms in the air, triumphant after completing another level during the "Hour of Code" event Wednesday afternoon.

"I learned how to really tell the computer what to do with different commands," he said. "I didn't know how many commands there were. I thought there were only a strict few, but there's actually a lot of commands."

Nico and his Bryan Elementary School peers in Donna Gorman's fifth-grade class embarked on a technological journey to learn about computer programming in the school's computer lab. The "Hour of Code" is an international movement to get students excited about programming, and Gorman's class certainly had no shortage of enthusiasm.

"I feel like later on in life, I will have to use these skills if I do some computer work or write reports," said Nico, who then revealed his plans to someday become the president of the United States.

Even President Obama is on board with the "Hour of Code." He and other celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher and Bill Gates participated in the educational videos on www.code.org, the website where anyone can learn what coding is and test their programming knowledge for free.

"I think for a lot of them it's an introduction to programming, that it's possible to do, because they've never even thought of programming," Gorman said. "The fact that it's in video games that are familiar to them shows them that they have the power to do that."

The Bryan students raced through the coding programs, which use characters from popular games and movies such as "Frozen" and "Angry Birds" to make writing JavaScript fun and engaging.

"I like computers; I have a computer at home," said Tyler Schoen, 10. "This is a good learning experience."

The students had to use problem-solving skills and logic to create pathways for the characters they were moving. They had to configure the correct movements for their characters to complete certain tasks. They sometimes tapped their neighbor's shoulder for assistance or worked in a group, but they were determined to get through the levels. After completing all the levels in one program, they could print a personalized "Hour of Code" certificate and move to more difficult programs.

"At its most basic, coding is problem solving," said advanced learning program teacher Jim Windisch. "They're taking a large problem and breaking it into small steps that they can solve ... I know there are many careers available in coding, but I think the problem solving that's at the heart of it is the really important piece of it."

Windisch reported that even kindergartners were experimenting during the "Hour of Code" on www.kodable.com, which challenges students to guide a character through a maze using code commands.

"They eagerly started over when their solution didn't work the first time," Windisch said.

"Hour of Code" is being observed by several area schools and places of learning, such as Woodland Middle School and Gizmo-CDA. It is part of National Computer Science Education Week, which began Monday and ends Sunday. Gizmo-CDA is hosting its free "Hour of Code" event today at 4 p.m. Gizmo-CDA co-founder Barbara Mueller said she hopes youths and their parents will attend.

"We're encouraging parents to come with the kids because we want the parents to see what the kids are doing," she said, adding that parental involvement is critical for computer science to be valued in academic curriculum.

"We teach kids Spanish, which is another language, but we don't teach them coding," Mueller said. "The young brain is pretty receptive to new ideas. Giving them an opportunity to have a playground to play in, so that it's natural to them, I think is very important."

Mueller said coding can be an isolating activity, so group sessions such as the "Hour of Code" allow for it to be more social. Those who want to participate in today's event are also encouraged to bring their own devices, such as tablets or laptops, but Gizmo-CDA will provide computers for attendees to use. Participants can register for the Gizmo-CDA "Hour of Code" event at www.gizmo-cda.org.

Gizmo-CDA is located at 806 N. Fourth St.