Learning programming is a painful process for most students, especially those learning text- based programming languages. In this study, based on the principle of Bandura's social learning theory, the vicarious real-life experiences of several pioneers in the field of IT and programming were presented as 15-minutes stories to a group of 9th graders learning to code in Python. A quasi-experimental research design was used to examine the effects of the theory and associated technique on student achievement. The 27 participants in the experiment group watched these presentations before engaging in programming activities while a control group were also observed who received no extra motivational intervention. Those in the experiment group were found to have significantly improved their programming achievement compared to those in the control group. Additionally, the functionality and originality of the experimental group projects were significantly better than those produced in the control group. They reported that they had been motivated by the pioneer stories, and their interest and self-efficacy beliefs in relation to creating high level programming projects were increased. The results highlight the benefits obtained from proper application of a "pioneer-story technique" to improve text-based programming skills.