Mission
The Problem: Computer science education excludes multiple minority groups, creating educational obstacles and preventing equal representation.
Gender
In 1984, 37 percent of computer science majors were women, but by 2014 that number had dropped to 18 percent. The computing industry's rate of U.S. job creation is three times the national average, but if trends continue, it is estimated that women will hold only 20 percent of computing jobs by 2025. U.S. News
Race
Black and Hispanic workers continue to be underrepresented in the STEM workforce. Blacks make up 11% of the U.S. workforce overall but represent 9% of STEM workers, while Hispanics comprise 16% of the U.S. workforce but only 7% of all STEM workers. And among employed adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher, Blacks are just 7% and Hispanics are 6% of the STEM workforce. Pew Research Center
Socioeconomic Status
Recently released technology and engineering literacy scores from NAEP’s Nation’s Report Card – which measures whether students are able to apply tech and engineering skills to real-life situations – revealed a 28-point gap between students from low-income families and their more affluent peers, and a 38-point gap between black and white students. Washington Post
Our Goal: To provide an environment for middle and high school students of all backgrounds to learn and improve their coding skills.
Middle school and high school is arguably the most important time period of a student's educational career. This is the point in life where a student can explore career opportunities and find out what interests them most. However, according to Cullen White, the managing director of computer science at Teach for America, "Only one in four schools across the nation offer computer science courses." This means that 75% of middle and high school students are denied access to a proper computer science environment, and this, along with multiple minority problems, results in the loss of many potential students that could have been interested in the field. With so many barriers, how can we, as students, learn and explore computer science and see if it the right fit for us? We have planned the perfect program to introduce and nurture the computer science skills in all middle and high schoolers.
Our Program
Middle and High School Oriented
This program is created for middle and high schoolers, and we made sure to make the course applicable to people of this age.
Immediate Application
Not only are we focused on teaching computer science curriculum, but we are also focused on applying it. Throughout the program, participants will collectively work on a project to solve or help with a current-day problem or event.
6-Week Long Course
One problem with many coding programs is the short duration of their course. Through our 6-week long course, we ensure a full understanding of the subject.
Curriculum For All
People of all levels of coding experience are welcome to participate in our course. Our curriculum is designed to accommodate beginner, intermediate, and advanced coders.
Speakers
Throughout the course, speakers who currently have or are pursuing a career in computer science will come and speak about their experience and answer some questions. Click here to become a speaker.
Always 100% Free
The entirety of this course is completely free!
Events
We are currently offering an online Python and Java course. It is free to attend and will be part of our next scheduled hackathon. Each session of these events will occur every day during the duration of the hackathon. Look below to find out about the different programs that will be offered, what will be taught, who are they opened to, and required prerequisites. Though the dates have not been finalized yet, please be sure to sign up with the participation form and join our discord server to stay updated!
Registration is currently open!
Python For Beginner Coders
Curriculum:
Students will be taught the basics concepts of Python. This includes syntax, libraries, key vocabulary, printing statements, defining variables, defining functions, if/else decisions, while/for loops, taking and using input, mathematical operations, boolean, lists, tuples, arrays, lambda, etc. Student will also work on projects related to what they learn, and will explore Python graphical tools, such as Python Turtle.
Open to:
Middle and high school students.
Required Prerequisites
None.
Java For Beginner Coders
Curriculum:
Students will be taught the basics concepts of Java. This includes syntax, libraries, key vocabulary, printing statements, defining variables, defining functions, if/else decisions, while/for loops, taking and using input, mathematical operations, boolean, lists, tuples, arrays, lambda, etc. Student will also work on projects related to what they learn, and will explore Java graphical tools, such as Java Swing.
Open to:
Middle and high school students.
Required Prerequisites
None.
Want to participate in our program?
By clicking the link below, you are signing up to be a participant at a 6-week long course focused on computer science (more details in the link). Sign up while seats last!
Participate In Our Program
To participate, click here.
Team
Our team is dedicated to providing every middle and high school student the oppurtunity and environment to learn and improve their coding skills.
Partners & Sponsors
Want to be a part of our team?
By signing up below, you can help students across the world learn and improve their computer science skills while simultaneously earn service hours and gain invaluable leadership experience.