Penetanguishene has its own Big Bang Theory young Sheldon, young Raj and young Howard all in one with Darsh Visani.
The 13-year-old is working toward a university degree, he was born in India and he wants to be an astronaut.
The Grade 8 pupil at Burkevale Protestant Separate School is the youngest instructor hired by the Town of Penetanguishene. He’s teaching computer programming to children.
Penetanguishene recreation and event coordinator Marla Bailey-Viscoff says they've never before had someone so young teach a program.
"But we have also never had such a qualified and capable youth interested in running a program," she says. “Darsh reached out with a formal proposal for the program, along with required certification.
"Having a young instructor for a program type such as coding is also a great way for youth in the community to learn, spoken by one of their peers, with appropriate supervision, of course."
Obviously proud of their son, Darsh’s parents Kaushal and Rupal also attend the classes. Kaushal added that it was all Darsh’s idea and he handles all the communication with the town.
Coding student Oliver Robinson, 10, says he always wanted to learn how to code.
"He taught us how to make different games on Scratch," explains Oliver, whose mother Jen Thompson says her son enjoys being taught by a peer.
“I think it’s great that they are learning from a kid rather than an adult,” she says. "They get to see other people their age with the same interest. It’s more casual and relaxed.”
Darsh is negotiating with the town to teach an advanced children’s coding program in the spring.
Bailey-Viscoff says she would “absolutely” hire him again and they are working out details of an advanced course.
Despite his young age, Darsh already has an impressive list of accomplishments.
He is working toward a Bachelor of Arts in music, specializing in harmonium, a keyboard instrument popular in South Asian music. He also plays the guitar, keyboard, recorder, flute and kalimba.
He speaks four languages (English, French, Gujarati, and Hindi), has published three books (available on Amazon) and designed the logo for the Penetanguishene Public Library.
“I have a really good mix of parents,” said Darsh. “My dad is more into STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and my mom is more into arts. My mom got me interested in the harmonium and from my dad, I got interested in CHIP programming. That’s where I got into robotics.”
Darsh aspires to become an astronaut after visiting the Kennedy Space Centre and meeting American astronaut Thomas Jones. Toward that goal he has joined the local Air Cadets with the aim of becoming a pilot.
“I love space,” Darsh says. “I like exploring something that that’s not been explored or finding out new things. Space is an unexplored frontier. That’s one of my main goals is to further space research."
The Visani family moved from India to Canada in 2015. Darsh’s parents both work in IT at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Darsh took coding courses offered online by BYJU’s Future School.
“He learned numerous coding languages and mastered various logical concepts,” said Kaushal.
Darsh wanted to teach the 10-week course because there wasn’t any coding courses offered.
“One thing I like about teaching is seeing all the kids’ creativity come to life,” he says. “In my opinion coding is just like electronic art.”
Coding and robotics are closely linked, according to Darsh.
“Robotics is also an art because you have to build the robot, which uses creativity and you have to code the robot, which is art.”
Currently, Darsh is gearing up to compete in the VEX IQ Robotics Competition Full Volume with his team from Burkevale in mid-May.
Last week, he was invited to St. Theresa’s Catholic High School to watch and help with the teams competing in VEX V5 Robotics Competition Over Under.
“I decided to help St. T’s because their robot had an issue with the claw,” Darsh says, ever trouble shooting computer problems.
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