The Latest From Code Savvy

Our newsletters highlight a variety of people, organizations, and resources that are doing work to broaden participation and expand equitable and engaging computer science and STEM opportunities. We are honored to work in this space along with so many talented and passionate individuals and want to help bring attention to their work.

This week’s spotlight and project-inspiration theme is: Dr. Ellen Ochoa

Dr. Ellen Ochoa has accomplished much in the world of STEM as a former NASA astronaut and former Director of Johnson Space Center. Her birthday was on May 10th, so this week we wanted to shine our spotlight on her life and accomplishments!

Born on May 10th, 1958 in Los Angeles, Ellen Ochoa earned a bachelor of science degree in physics from San Diego State University and a Master’s of Science Degree and Doctorate from Stanford Department of Electrical Engineering. Dr. Ochoa went on to research optical systems for information processing at Sandia National Laboratories and at the Nasa Ames Research Center.

Dr. Ochoa became an astronaut in 1991, and became the first Hispanic Female in space in 1993 during a nine day mission on the Space Shuttle Discovery to study the Earth’s ozone layer. She would go on to log over 1000 hours in space across four spaceflights! In 2013, she went on to become the second female and first Hispanic director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Dr. Ellen Ochoa definitely blazed a trail in the world of STEM for females and Hispanics to follow. Her research and work has left a lasting impact, and we want to say thank you and happy birthday to Dr. Ochoa! You can learn more about Dr. Ochoa through her biography or Wikipedia page.

This week as you are building your own STEM skills, we challenge you to create a project that honors Dr. Ochoa. Could you build a Scratch project that shares the story of her work?

share your CS to Go projects!

How to Share: We invite CS to Go with Code Savvy participants to consider sharing your projects publicly with the Code Savvy and greater #MNCodes community via video with Flipgrid. We can’t wait to see what you create! Please be sure to follow online safety guidelines and get adult permission before sharing. You can find our Privacy Policy here.

Catch Up on Past Weeks’ CS to Go and Bytes of Inspiration Videos

CS to Go and Bytes of Inspiration with Code Savvy are our response to the current health crisis — Code Savvy’s programs have come together to share weekly youth- and educator-centered videos that focus on creating new things with computer science. You can find all CS to Go and Bytes of Inspiration videos under Distance Learning on our website!

Other Happenings

Code Savvy’s MNCodes Educator Training Program and Opportunities

21-22 MNCodes Coding in the Classroom Leadership Cohort Applications now Open!

Each school year, Code Savvy’s Educator Training Program hosts a year long cohort of educators who meet monthly to explore computer science education. The MNCodes Coding in the Classroom Cohort has been running for six years, and has partnered with teachers and districts across the state. Applications are now open for the next year’s cohort, and are due May 31st. You can find further details and registration information on the cohort website. You won’t want to miss this great opportunity to network with other educators and dive deep into computer science education!

CS Integration Curriculum Showcase

As part of the MNCodes Cohort, educators are asked to create lessons that integrate computer science with another curricular content area such as literacy, math, science, or others, and align to both CSTA and MN Academic Standards. We will use this space to regularly showcase various curriculum resources that have been created by current or former MNCodes Cohort members.

Experiments with Spheros

Here is a great project that allows students to learn coding with Spheros, while at the same time practicing conducting controlled experiments and collecting data. Check out the lesson resources here. To see other projects that integrate CS into core content areas, you can browse our database on the MNCodes website.

Coffee + CS Ed Zoom Call

Looking for more ways to connect with other educators interested in CS Ed? Or do you have ideas to share, questions or want to try out a resource in the company of other K12 CS Educators? Check out Coffee + CSEd Chats – every Friday at 8am, CT. Anyone is welcome to join! Details and Zoom info can be found here.

Technovation[MN]

Technovation Girls is hosting a coding club called the “Grandmom’s Coding Club” for Technovation girls, parents or grandparents The goal is to help students with their ideation and coding journey with a focus on climate issues.

Details:

Who is it for? Girls ages 8-18 and their parents, grandparents, guardians…

When does it start? June 1st

How often does the club meet? Weekly on Tuesday and Thursday at 6pm PST (4pm CT)

Coding Languages: App Inventor and Thunkable

You can find out more about it here and complete an interest form here.

CoderDojos

Our summer schedule is now available here. Our next virtual event is this Saturday, May 22nd! – Register Here. Hope to see many of you there. Sign up for email notices – CodeDojoTC and Rebecca CoderDojo.

IT Connect Connect Community announces “A Gal’s Guide to the Galaxy” – The Ultimate Guide for Women in STEM. Minnesota Aspirations in Computing – SPARCS program leader Katie Hendriksen has assembled an amazing cast of STEM characters who are presenting on a wide range of STEM topics. Get registered now….then invite some friends and schoolmates to join you. It’ll be a BLAST! Registration ends May 16.

https://itconnect.workoutloud.com/Event/a-gals-guide-to-the-galaxy-the-ultimate-guide-for-women-in-stem-5-8-21

Best Prep Summer Offers 2021 Minnesota Business Venture Camp

Minnesota Business Venture – MBV is a virtual four-day business and career development summer camp that brings together students in grades 9-12 to learn business, leadership, and financial literacy skills.

This is a great opportunity to network with students from across the country, hear from business owners, build skills needed for your resume and future job, learn information you’ll need for college applications, and help you learn about the career you’d like in the future.

Visit https://bestprep.org/minnesota-business-venture/ for more information.

<run>:\the\world Machine Learning Virtual Summer Camp

The School of Mathematics and the School of Statistics at the University of MN isoffering the <run>:\the\world Machine Learning camps, a unique opportunity to connect with other high school students who share the same interests, and learn cool programming and math techniques that make a difference in the world.

Dates:

June 14-18: Girls camp (girl-Identified, nonbinary, transgender girls, trans femme)

June 21-25: All Genders Camp (people of any and all gender identities)

June 28-July 2: Advanced All Genders Camp (people of any and all gender identities)

Time: 9 am to 4 pm

Location: Virtual Via Zoom

Registration deadline is May 30.

Visit https://cse.umn.edu/mcfam/theworld-machine-learning-virtual-summer-camp for more information and to apply.

More Code Savvy

About Code Savvy

Code Savvy empowers youth and educators with the knowledge, skills, and support to create with technology while interrupting and counteracting gender, racial, and socioeconomic gaps in computing. We create opportunities for hands-on computer science learning that inspires learners to transform the future.

Visit our website to learn more →