Teach for America receives $1M grant to expand computer scie
Source: DANYA PEREZ- HERNANDEZ
As she passes computers around, Evelyn Hunting advises her high school students to be open minded about the basic computer coding session they are about to take Friday. Even the slightest knowledge in the subject, she said, can be used as an advantage in many different careers.
“I really think that the important part of today is just trying this one hour,” Hunting said about the Hour of Code initiative. “Everybody has the ability to do this one hour. … Trying it out for a little bit is what we really want you to do today.”
Two years into her teaching job at IDEA Public Schools in Alamo, Hunting, an engineering graduate originally from San Diego, might be one of the teachers leading a new push to increase computer science literacy in the Rio Grande Valley, thanks to a grant received by Teach for America this week.
The $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation is intended to recruit, train and develop teachers who can eventually expand computer science exposure in low-income communities. Using the three-year grant, the organization will begin the project in the Rio Grande Valley, New York, Kansas City and South Carolina.
Each year, four high school teachers will be selected from the Teach for America network in the Valley for training on how to lead an introductory computer course in their schools, which could eventually lead to the creation of more advanced courses by school officials.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of background they have,” said Cullen White, national Teach for American director of Computer Sciences Initiatives. “We are going to provide them with the supports that are required to turn them into excellent computer science instructors.”
Like other school districts in the Valley, IDEA Alamo has a big push to get students interested in STEM fields ― science, technology, education and mathematics ― and students have the option to take a computer science course.
But Hunting said the idea is to get every child exposed, regardless of any previous interest in the subject, so as a pre-calculus teacher, she began to bring in computer tutorials and became involved in robotics. The problem is that most students that gravitate to these types of activities have previous knowledge of computer science.
“Secondary STEM education isn’t where it should be,” she said. “I think that kids can have a lot more early exposure in a way that can really demystify and make things a lot more accessible. … In reality it takes very basic communication skills that all students are capable of.”
Odalys Guzman, 17, was one of the students participating in the Hour of Code initiative on Friday. The eleventh grader said she wants to study to become a physical therapist, but this year she began taking a computer science course and found it more fun that she expected.
“I like that you can make your own programs,” she said. “You can create it however you want it. And it’s me, that’s what I like.”
This is exactly the kind of exposure that Teach for America hopes to broaden throughout the Valley using the grant, said Jonathan Stevens, Teach for America director of growth. So rather than having a computer science course focusing on robotics only, the course will be a general introduction to expose the children to all of the options ahead of them.
“There’s a huge misrepresentation of students in computer science,” he said. “How do we open up more doors so that it’s not just the kids who are already teaching themselves at home how to code and do computer science? … Many professions and careers are going to require these skills, so there’s a need for a general course.”
But the teachers will not be asked to jump into teaching the course until they have been fully trained, White said, Instead, the project will focus on fully preparing them for the course and turning the teachers into computer science advocates.
“That means simply working with their students, getting their students excited, getting their administrative staff and counselors excited about what is possible with computer science,” White said.
Having at least one teacher at a campus that can spread the message and share the knowledge with other teachers and administrative staff is crucial for making this a sustainable project that can impact the Valley well beyond the three-year grant period, he said. That’s why the grant is solely intended on training these teachers.
“By starting small, we expect to have a really big, long-term impact at the school by creating a sustainable program that will last as long as that teacher is there and beyond,” White said.
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