Getting to know our newest team member, Jamie
Jamie Inskeep has joined the TPF4Y team as Director of Programs. We are so excited to have her join us! Read below for a Q&A with Jamie and learn about her career, her interests, and her favorite things!
What was the "a-ha moment" that got you interested in working in the STEM industry?
I was a classroom teacher for 16 years so I’ve definitely always had a love for learning, but the real “a-ha moment” was after I attended a week of Space Camp for Educators. After that week I knew I had to do whatever it took to bring relevant and hands-on experiences to as many students as possible.
Where did you go to college and what was your major?
I went to IUPUI and majored in Elementary Education.
Who inspired you most in your career?
Probably my two children. My siblings and I are the first to receive college degrees in our family so I have always wanted to set an example to them that they can be whoever they want to be and never to settle for less than their best. Knowing they are watching me inspires me to continue setting goals and working hard to achieve them.
What is your favorite restaurant in Indy?
This is hard to narrow down because I am a big lover of food, but I will have to say Maggiano’s. I love classic Italian cuisine and when it comes down to it I could live on it for the rest of my life if necessary.
What do you tell Alexa to play most often?
With two teenagers in the house I don’t get free rein of the music selection very often, but if I do I’d be happy with anything other than rap or country.
As a former educator, what does STEM education mean to you?
For me personally, STEM education completely shifted my thinking in terms of education and how I approached everything in the classroom. About 10 years into teaching I found myself stuck in the mundane of the day to day and I knew I had to make a change. It was the discovery of STEM instruction that changed everything for me. I began seeing how critical it is in preparing and equipping students for a better future. Not only did I feel like I was better equipping my students, I was also growing and getting more excited about education. STEM provides students with hands-on experiences that connect them with real-life possibilities and I don’t think it gets much better than that!
What excites you the most about taking the role of Director of Programs for the Foundation?
I am so excited to be on the TPF4Y team for many reasons, but I think I’m most excited about the opportunity to partner with so many to make a big impact on kids and their futures. I loved being a teacher, but I’m looking forward to having a greater reach and impact on students across the state.
What is the app on your phone you can't live without?
I would say any social media app because it’s the easiest way to stay connected to family and friends. I have a very large family with a total of 20 nieces and nephews that don’t all live close so it’s really important for me to stay connected with them.
Do you believe in ghosts? What about aliens?
I do not believe in ghosts so much, but when it comes to aliens, I have a hard time believing that in a universe as vast as ours that we are the only people living in it. I used to tell my students that there may be another class of students somewhere on the other side of the universe wondering the same things about us.
It's your last dinner party on earth, you can invite 3 people that are not of blood relation to join you at your table. These people can be alive or dead. Who are they?
This is such a hard question, and I feel like it could change depending on the day, but currently, I will say Elon Musk because I am a huge space enthusiast and I have been intrigued with how he has brought such a lift to the country’s space program. Next, Billy Graham because my faith is really important to me, and with all of his life experience I feel like I could learn a lot from his stories and finally, Christa McAuliffe because she had the combined experience of being a teacher and training to be an astronaut.
Why should companies participate in philanthropic activities within their community?
Companies should participate in philanthropic activities to support their communities, as well as better, understand them. Understanding the needs in a community helps businesses understand their role in making it better. I firmly believe we all have a responsibility to care for and lift others up.
Lessonly and TPF4Y Host a Halloween-Themed Virtual Q&A with Elementary Students
On October 28th, 10 Lessonly employees led a learning opportunity for 21 Skiles Test elementary students. Chatting over Zoom, the students learned about what it’s like to work for a software company, the importance of education, and (of course!) discussed what everyone wanted to be for Halloween.
The event was hosted by Alex Mislan, Manager of Enterprise Service Delivery at Lessonly. The students were divided into breakout rooms with various Lessonly employees. The employees shared their personal education experiences, career paths, and then opened up the floor to the students. The students asked various questions ranging from, “What do you do if you disagree with a customer” to “Do you all know how to code?” Lessonly sales team member Matt Boling explained that, “one of the main pillars of the organization is to communicate with kindness.”
some of the TPF4Y staff’s favorite moments from the event:
#1: Jaden asked what the team did when having technical difficulties.
#2: Another student asked how many employees work at Lessonly and was shocked to find it was over 200. His eyes went wild on the call
#3 When another student was asked what he wanted to do when he grew up, he shared he’d like to start a charity to help the homeless.
All students and volunteers were rounded up for a final story from Lessonly employee Pierre Perez. He told students a story of his career path, starting with a cross-country move from Los Angeles to Indianapolis and the many professional changes he experienced along the way before becoming an Account Manager at Lessonly. He told students that he did not follow a straight line to engineering, and highlighted the fact that education can open many doors.
We want to thank our amazing partner Lessonly for giving a real-world work experience to Skiles Test students and for encouraging them to do good work.
TechPoint Foundation for Youth’s success as an organization is dependent upon relationships with partners that support technology education for all. If your company is interested in creating a custom volunteer experience with help from TPF4Y, contact George Giltner, President and CEO for TechPoint Foundation for Youth about how to become a TechPoint Foundation For Youth partner.
TPF4Y Celebrates International Day of the Girl with a Virtual Coding Event
“Girls are breaking boundaries and barriers posed by stereotypes and exclusion, including those directed at children with disabilities and those living in marginalized communities. As entrepreneurs, innovators and initiators of global movements, girls are creating a world that is relevant for them and future generations.” - un.org
In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, which would serve as a recognition of girls’ rights and the challenges faced by young women around the world. The day focuses attention on gender discrepancies and seeks to promote empowerment and fulfillment of equal rights.
In celebration of the International Day of the Girl, TechPoint Foundation for Youth (TPF4Y) hosted its second annual International Day of the Girl Virtual Coding Event presented by Guggenheim Life and Annuity, Indy Women in Tech and Lessonly, on Wednesday, October 14th.
The event opened with a panel of 4 female Indiana STEM experts who shared their career stories and offered advice to the young females in attendance. Each panelist was carefully selected to represent a variety of STEM expertise: Claire Bishop, a robotics student and our STEMCast host, Brittany Hutter, a STEM Partner and Associate Software Engineer at Lessonly, Kate Maxwell, Technical Director for Raytheon and TPF4Y board member and Katherine Kiang, a scientist at Lilly!
Kate Maxwell shared her advice to the young attendees: “Be brave and lean into the things that maybe cause you a little bit of discomfort...I wanted to try computer science and I did, and it has completely changed my life.”
Watch Kate’s Panel Interview here:
A major theme of the event was the diversity of the STEM field. Katherine underlined this message when sharing about the discovery of her career: “I realized all the types of opportunities I could do with my degree, that aren’t just in a lab”.
Katherine’s Panel Interview here:
Brittany used her panel time to discuss how she found her professional fit as a coder: “All of us can have our own voice and contribute our own part into the code in a way that meshes nicely.”
Brittany’s Interview here:
When asked about her relationship to STEM, Claire talked about the community she has found and the skills she has developed through her involvement in competitive robotics. “Within robotics, I really enjoy the team aspect. When I think of STEM, I see it more as a community, or a family. You’re designing solutions. You’re answering problems, you’re solving problems. You’re using your brain to think critically.” After the panel discussion, robotics student Claire led the attendees through a coding exercise showing students how to use a virtual robotics coding software that allows students to code and virtually control a robot.
Claire Leading the Coding Activity:
At TPF4Y, we prioritize serving Indiana students from families identified as low income and/or of low educational attainment, especially female and non-white students. This population is under-represented in STEM education and, as adults, in STEM-related careers. Through TPF4Y events such as the International Day of the Girl Virtual Coding Event, and opportunities like the Girl Powered Robotics Grant, we connect our priority population to technology education by providing resources, mentorship, and experiential learning.
Our goal is to ensure young women know the value of their place in the STEM industry. We hope events like the International Day of the Girl Virtual Coding Event will inspire young women to be confident in their pursuit of a STEM career.
We want to thank our partners, Guggenheim Life and Annuity, Indy Women in Tech, and Lessonly, for making this event a reality. Our success as an organization is dependent upon relationships with local companies that support gender equality and technology education for all.
Volunteer Spotlight: STEM Partner Paul Gohmann
Paul Gohmann helping students with a coding project on Scratch.
Paul Gohmann
Information Security Consultant, Eli Lilly & Company
Paul Gohmann was a new STEM Partner for the 2019-2020 school year. During the past school year, Mr. Gohmann volunteered with Ms. Kelly’s 3rd-grade class at an Indianapolis school. Now, more than ever, we have begun to truly recognize the hard and impactful work that teachers in Indiana and across the world do for their students. Paul was motivated to become a STEM Partner when he noticed the shortcomings in the American education system. He felt that if he volunteered for just a few hours each month, it would help out both the teacher and the students. Paul was right, and Ms. Kelly and her students agree that his involvement as a STEM Partner has made an impact!
“I believe STEM education should be started at an early age, but there aren’t nearly enough resources available within our education system.”
Paul encourages students to think through problems they have with their coding activity.
Similar to the experiences of the Partners we’ve previously highlighted, Paul’s students were appreciative of him and enjoyed his presence. After regular visits, Paul started to receive fist bumps, hugs, and high fives from the students he worked with. In the classroom, the students light up around Paul. They don’t hesitate to ask him for his help and input as they complete their work. Any visitor to the classroom could see how the students always listen intently as Paul helped them think through problems they needed to solve.
Paul reflected on his experience, noting that he’s “Adding value not only as a helper in the classroom for the programming sessions with the students but also as an adult who can simply acknowledge that each student is a valuable person.” Paul’s genuine encouragement of the students helps build students up and feel that they are absolutely valuable. Paul always encourages the students after completing their coding, working through bugs, and trying their best! With the essence of a true STEM Partner and role model, Paul believes that encouragement helps students understand that they can do anything!
Problem-solving students collaborating to complete their coding assignment.
The desire to positively impact one’s community is a common motivator for volunteering. In this case and most cases for our Partners, not only has Paul had an impact on his classroom, but the classroom has impacted him. He has gained a better perspective on the challenges teachers face. Through volunteering as a STEM Partner, Paul realized that he can contribute to improving how we educate students. Paul and his classroom experience personify the beauty of the STEM Partners program and how it positively influences teachers, students, and volunteers!
“I’ve gained a better perspective on the challenges teachers face and that I can - even in a small way- contribute to better educating our youth.”
With a better understanding of the challenges in schooling, Paul wants to share this advice with potential STEM Partners:
You don’t need to be a scientist or a “brainiac” to help out students.
Teachers need and will appreciate helping hands! Offering a few hours each month will help tremendously!
Consider being a STEM Partner!
Paul passes out Valentine’s to all the students in the class, calling out each student by name.
Thank you, Paul, for volunteering as a STEM Partner and thank you to Ms. Kelly and her students for participating in the STEM Partners program! This program wouldn’t be successful without the commitment by its STEM Partners and teachers!
COVID-19 has put an added strain on teachers in Indiana. With the next school year quickly approaching, consider donating your time to assist teachers with their STEM education curriculum, and enrich the STEM learning environment in the classroom. To apply to be a STEM Partner, click here.
TPF4Y Celebrates Volunteer Recognition Week: Spotlight on a Rockstar Volunteer
We at TechPoint Foundation for Youth know our non-profit would not be successful were it not for the dedication of our amazing volunteers. We are so thankful for the involvement of community members and employees of our partners who spend their time assisting in our programming and events. With this being Volunteer Recognition Week, we wanted to highlight a stellar volunteer for her involvement in TPF4Y. See below for an interview with Rockstar Volunteer, Ashley Zappia.
How did you first become involved as a volunteer?
I first became involved as a volunteer with TechPoint through a friend of mine. He is a robotics coach at a local high school and helped to get the VEX Robotics State Championship off the ground a few years ago. I had worked with him on other STEM education volunteering events in the Indianapolis area, and when he mentioned that there was a need for judges at the elementary school level, I was eager to sign up for the experience!
Is there a specific impactful moment you can recall as a volunteer?
My first year as a VEX judge, one of the first student teams I interviewed was only two boys, but they really made an impact on me. One of them hand-wrote all of the coding for their robot while the other primarily focused on design. I was highly impressed with not just the work that they put into their robot that year, but their passion for science and robotics. That was the moment when I realized exactly how far youth robotics has come since I was in high school, and I knew that I wanted to continue to work with and advocate for it.
Photo courtesy of Bin Sun
Why do you feel youth robotics is important?
I feel that youth robotics is important because it provides students with a strong, fundamental understanding of basic technology, technical writing, and the overall scientific method. Additionally, it provides them with coaches and role models who actively nurture their creativity and curiosity, cultivating them into passions that last through to adulthood. It creates interest in usable skills for future education and employment while teaching them about teamwork, identifying the strengths of others, and communication skills in a way that other common activities can't. I recently had the awesome opportunity to tour a makerspace that was focused on STEM at one of the elementary schools in Lawrence Township and was completely blown away at how they were taking robotics and applying it to teaching other subjects. As I was leaving, one of the second-grade teachers was out in the hall, working with a small robot that she was using to teach her students cardinal directions and navigation. The implementation of youth robotics both in the classroom and as an extracurricular activity has more applications that we can relate to modern-day life scenarios than we can possibly imagine.
What inspired you to become a volunteer?
I love working with children and feel that a strong foundation of science and technology is a key investment not only on the individual level but is beneficial to society as a whole. When we all have an understanding of the way that our world works on a fundamental level, we are all speaking the same language, and I love being able to share my personal passions for STEM with children and see that spark of inspiration light up inside of them.
How would you encourage others to involve themselves as a TPF4Y volunteer?
Volunteering with STEM education-related events has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding choices I have ever made. Whether it is an event that is interacting with kids for a few hours like with the May the 4th event, or a full day of work as a judge for the VEX Robotics State Championship, I can guarantee that it will leave a lasting impact on both you and the students that you work with. There is nothing more personally gratifying than being able to experience the unbridled excitement of children when they learn something new about a subject that they are already in love with. Being able to spend time with them and hear their stories about how they worked together to create something, learning together from their successes, failures, and even their teammates is an experience that is irreplaceable to both the students and the volunteers.
Thank you again to Ashley for taking the time to answer our questions. We are so thankful for her passion and involvement in our organization, as well as all our volunteers! If you’d like to get involved with future TPF4Y events as a volunteer, send an email to Andy@techpointyouth.org!
Recapping the 2020 Indiana VEX Robotics State Championship
The largest robotics state championship in the country took place on Saturday, March 7th at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, presented by TechPoint Foundation for Youth (TPF4Y), powered by Guggenheim Life and Annuity and hosted by the City of Indianapolis. This is the third time the event has been held at the venue, bringing 385 Indiana elementary, middle, and high school teams together to compete amongst their peers. More than 13,000 people were in attendance for the event. Check out the video below for a recap of the day’s excitement!
TPF4Y welcomed special guests Mayor Joe Hogsett and Dr. Jennifer Jensen to help kickstart the event, who both gave inspirational and encouraging speeches during the opening ceremony. IndyVRC founder, Former Mayor Ballard, along with representatives from SRI (State Robotics Initiative) sponsors including Guggenheim Life and Annuity, Indiana Department of Education, Roche Diagnostics, Eli Lilly and Company Foundation as well as additional supporting partners, attended to present awards including the coveted Ballard Teamwork Challenge awards.
Photo credit to Mick Hetman
The day was filled with joy and hardwork from our amazing volunteers to the diligent robotics competitors. “The students of these robotics teams will become the leaders of tomorrow. By helping provide a pathway from elementary to middle school and now high school, we are able to nurture the passion these students have.” said our VP of STEM Education, George Giltner.
Photo credit to Mick Hetman
Since 2016, the SRI grant program has helped launch over 1,100 Indiana robotics teams and impacted over 23,000 students. TechPoint Foundation for Youth’s 2020-21 grants will reopen April 15 and the TPF4Y Robot Team plans to award eligible elementary, middle, and (new this year!) high schools!
Learn more about TPF4Y robotics opportunities here: https://www.techpointyouth.org/robots/
Special thanks to StickerMule for the awesome stickers we shared at State, if your team is looking for Robot Swag, StickerMule Rocks!
For more photos from the event, click here:
Check out this amazing video recap from Query Productions:
FINAL RESULTS
VEX IQ - ELEMENTARY School
VEX IQ - Middle School
vrc - MIDDLE school
vrc - HIGH SCHOOL
Growth on the Road to the Indiana VEX State Championship
The big event is right around the corner! This season we wanted to share the stories of some of our State Robotics Initiative Grant recipients who’ve made it to the 2020 Indiana VEX Robotics State Championship!
BES Robopros are from Lawrenceburg, IN
BES Robopros
Bright Elementary School
Lawrenceburg, In
At State, this team will be easy to spot. Look for their fierce mascot and the bubbly students chanting “B-E-S Robopros, B-E-S Robopros!” High in team spirit and in talent, this team from Lawrenceburg, Indiana has made a name for themselves, despite this being their first season. The Robopros team is comprised of 8 students who have been practicing twice a week since August.
The Robopros gracefully demonstrate what it means to be resilient. According to their coach, their first robot design did not work out, they had to brainstorm and work together to get their finished robot: the Rhinocorn. Their season was not easy, there were rough patches tense with conflict, frustration and even disagreements. Those moments did not stop this team from growing, working together and succeeding.
“Robotics means a lot to our students. To them robotics means designing and building a great robot, following the engineering process, learning how to work together, having a place to feel included, and most importantly- having fun!”
Coach Michelle Hofer and the team grew together throughout the season. The students learned how to listen to one another, analyze ideas based on merit, and how to value themselves and their teammates. Coach Hofer also learned great things from her team, including how to unify students with different interests and abilities in order to achieve a central goal. In addition, she has learned how to guide students through the different processes of robot design while allowing them to think through each step themselves.
Leo Robotics is housed in Leo-Cedarville, IN
Leo Robotics
Leo Elementary School & Leo Junior/Senior High School
Leo-Cedarville, IN
Leo Robotics is comprised of teams at Leo Elementary School and both the Leo Elementary & Leo Junior/Senior High Schools. Representing Leo- Cedarville, Indiana - all four teams will be competing at State this year!
The middle school teams, 141A and 141B will be competing at State in the VEX IQ Middle School division. These teams are completely focused on success at State while having a good time! The students love working on the different components of robotics; from completing the engineering workbook, solving math problems to determine the correct ratios for their robot’s gears, and being able to collaborate with one another.
“Robotics is important to us because we love solving problems and working with other people! We have met new friends that are both on our team and on other teams.”
In the Elementary division, teams 26194A and 26194B worked through various challenges to make it to State. 26194B had to re-strategize after their best driver broke their arm! Both teams were faced with adversity at a few competitions. Team A had to problem-solve quickly when their robot’s brain started to act up right before a competition. Team A had to shift into high gear to brainstorm, implement their solutions, and test out whether it would work out.
Coaches Joe Kennedy and Shelley Crozier have both seen their teams grow. Crozier noted that, “As the season went on, I saw that their skills and confidence grew with each practice.” Kennedy is proud of his team members’ growth in mathematics this season and how much his students love working together and supporting one another.
Rocket Fuel Robotics
Riverside Intermediate School
Plymouth, IN
Rocket Fuel Robotics is representing their home base of Plymouth, IN.
The energetic team from Riverside is comprised of 22 students. During the regular season, the team practiced twice a week for 90 minutes. However, moving into State the team has added practices as needed to best prepare for the big day. Riverside team members started drafting designs for their bots over the summer in preparation for the team’s official start in September. This summer time preparation has definitely set the tone for the team. They are hard workers whose motivation comes from honing in on each team member’s individual role and making sure they all remain focused.
“Robotics allows our students to participate in a challenging activity in an encouraging, fun, and exciting environment. ”
Like the other amazing robotics teams, Riverside had to problem solve. At one competition, the B team was sure they’d win but were unfortunately outscored in a separate finals match. Instead of letting the defeat get them down, the team worked hard to refine their driving and programming skills in order to win their last qualifying tournament earning them a spot at State!
The students have grown tremendously in their coding knowledge, as well. In addition to the growth in that skill, team members feel strongly about the importance of robotics. Coach Laurie Wandland says, “Robotics allows our students to participate in a challenging activity in an encouraging, fun, and exciting environment. Students are able to apply their knowledge of STEM skills and the design process to create their robot and then compete with teams from across the state, country, and world.”
Good luck to the BES Robopros, LEO Robotics, Rocket Fuel Robotics and the 350+ teams competing at State on March 7th!
A special thank you to the fantastic coaches who helped us recognize their awesome students with this blog post.
Volunteer Spotlight: STEM Partner Steve Gillman
Steve Gillman, Eli Lilly and Company retiree
When Steve walks down the hallway at Fox Hill Elementary he’s greeted by enthusiastic students. From sharing a bright smile to offering a fist bump, the students Mr. Gillman has volunteered with in the past are eager to show appreciation of their friend. These cheerful greetings illuminate Steve’s love for the STEM Partners program: the opportunity to build a lasting rapport with students!
Steve Gillman (left), Ms. Nelson (right) and her 4th grade class.
Steve Sorting isopods for the class’s environmental factors experiment.
In preparation for Ms. Nelson’s lesson over investigating environmental factors, Steve showed up nearly an hour and a half before the science lesson to set up for the experiment. He meticulously arranged all the materials including sorting two variations of living isopods. In doing so, he allowed Ms. Nelson to maximize her teaching time, providing more time for the students to complete their writing assignments and math problems. As a best practice, Steve urges other STEM Partners to volunteer and help out with activities that aren’t glamorous like setting up experiments before class, making copies, and even helping with lunch duty. He explains that those small tasks will go a long way with fostering a relationship with your partner teacher.
“Try to refrain from being an expert. For instance, if a kid asks a question, assist them in finding the answer.” Steve suggests this best practice to new and existing STEM Partners.
Students and Steve observe the two types of isopods responding to the different moisture environments.
During the experiment, Steve assisted Ms. Nelson in walking around the room to listen in on the different workgroups. Steve stopped at each group to ask thought-provoking questions about the behaviors the students observed during the experiment. Effortlessly, Steve called on the students by name and encouraged them to think through what they were observing. Steve’s skill with interactions with the students has been cultivated over the years through his participation in STEM Partners and other volunteer roles.
“Volunteering with this program helps me understand the challenges kids in low-income areas face, and it helps to bridge the generational gap,” says Steve. “In the long run, I hope the program assists in reducing the economic gap by allowing the kids to understand that their STEM education can lead to successful careers.”
Students observing the different behaviors of two isopod types in an effort to classify the insects by type.
Steve values this program and wants to encourage others to make a difference in their local schools by participating too! If you’re not sure whether you should become a STEM Partner, Steve suggests going to shadow an existing Partner. You can arrange a time to accompany the Partner to their classroom and see the program in action. After you’ve shadowed a Partner, Steve wants you to give the STEM Partners program a try!
Steve passes a cup of 8 squirming isopods to a hesitant student.
Thank you, Steve, for volunteering as a STEM Partner and thank you to Ms. Nelson and her fourth-graders for participating in the STEM Partners program! This program wouldn’t be what it is today without the commitment by its STEM Partners and teachers!
Steve Gillman has volunteered with the STEM Partners program for 6 years. He has worked with a school in the Indianapolis Public School Corporation, Fox Hill Elementary, and Northview Middle School. He is currently volunteering at Ms. Nelson’s 4th-grade class at Fox Hill and at Ms. Brooks’s 6th-grade class at Northview Middle School.
Volunteer Spotlight: STEM Partner Stephanie Stout
STEM Partners is an innovative program that connects talented teachers with experienced STEM professionals to implement hands-on, minds-on curriculum. Employees from Eli Lilly and Company, IU Health and HNTB volunteer as "STEM Partners" for the duration of a school year, working one-on-one with a teacher to create and enrich the STEM learning environment in the classroom. We are excited to highlight our volunteers and share their rewarding experiences in this volunteer spotlight series!
Stephanie (on the left) pictured with Miss Ashby’s second-grade students.
Stephanie Stout
Research Scientist
Eli Lilly and Company
Stephanie has been a STEM Partner since 2014. Over the years she has volunteered at Blue Academy in Decatur Township and Sycamore Elementary School in Avon, where she currently volunteers with Miss Ashby’s 2nd graders.
Growing up with a mother who taught, Stephanie Stout spent quite a bit of time in the classroom and loved it! Throughout her schooling, Stephanie had several science teachers who inspired and fostered her love for science. For Stephanie, having the opportunity to return to the classroom - an environment she loved as a kid - to share her enthusiasm for science with young students is what drew her to volunteer as a STEM Partner.
“How often do you walk into a room and see 25 faces beam with excitement that you’ve arrived and that they are about to start something fun?” she says of the 2-hour sessions she attends twice per month.
During her five impactful years as a STEM Partner, Stephanie has learned that kids value engaging role models. Stephanie understands that young children yearn for adult role models, and even spending a few moments with them in small groups can help build a relationship.
“Engaging with children can sometimes be intimidating for adults with limited exposure to kids,” she says. “But I have found that students (and teachers) are incredibly gracious when you put yourself out there.”
When Stephanie is interacting with students, Miss Ashby recognizes the clear benefit of Stephanie’s presence in the classroom: students are able to get more hands-on time in small groups because Stephanie is there to assist in leading discussions and providing guidance. Without Stephanie’s presence, it would be a challenge for Miss Ashby to provide enough attention to each group around the classroom.
Although everyone would like to volunteer, it can be tough to find time in your schedule for it. Due to Stephanie’s strong commitment to the program, she plans ahead to establish time for STEM Partners. Stephanie crafts her schedule early in the school year and blocks out her calendar with “out-of-office” notations. Of course, there are days where Stephanie’s schedule is packed and she doesn’t think she can take time away from work, but once she’s in the classroom she always enjoys herself!
Stephanie’s advice for new STEM Partners is to be persistent if you encounter difficulty in communications - or even scheduling - with your paired teacher. Stephanie learned that teachers juggle multiple streams of communication and additional demands that can make connecting with a STEM Partner difficult. Don’t let this challenge discourage you! Maintain persistence and reach out to TechPoint Foundation for Youth or your STEM Partner contacts at your organization for help! For those who aren’t sure whether STEM Partners would be a good fit for them, Stephanie adamantly states that the program will likely be one of the most rewarding parts of your day or week!
Thank you Stephanie for volunteering as a STEM Partner and thank you to Miss Ashby and her second graders for participating in the STEM Partners program! This program wouldn’t be what it is today without the commitment of the STEM Partners volunteers and teachers!
Hour of Code 2019 impacts over 3,000 students!
Two Deer Run fourth graders during an Hour of Code session.
Central Indiana students went on a quest for candy, blasted obstacles with dragons, and mapped pathways for Flurbs last week, all in the name of computer science. Though the activities featured fictional fantasy characters, more than 3,250 students gained real coding experience. Hour of Code began as a simple hour-long introduction to computer science, designed to show that anybody can learn the basics and garner interest in the field of computer science. Since its inception, Hour of Code has evolved into a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, whether it be through a one-hour online activity or a community-wide celebration. From December 9th to December 13th, TechPoint Foundation for Youth (TPF4Y) staff and volunteers mentored students in over 125 classrooms at six schools across central Indiana. CoderDojo Indiana, a TPF4Y initiative, facilitated Hour of Code in the districts of IPS, Pike and Lawrence Township schools in order to celebrate Computer Science Education Week for the sixth year in a row.
Lalita Sawyers-Locke, a volunteer from Roche, and a first grade student at Skiles Test Elementary work together on an Hour of Code activity.
Volunteers who work in the technology sector visited 125 classrooms, shared about their careers, and assisted the students in the coding activities. Volunteers contributed more than 171 hours to Hour of Code throughout the week! Speaking of his own experience at the schools, TPF4Y’s Vice President of STEM Education George Giltner said: “It was an absolute joy seeing students getting excited about coding and working together to solve problems. We are so grateful for our volunteers to help connect the classroom activities to real-life applications so that students can see the potential of learning to code."
Some students had familiarity with the programs, however, to some it was brand new. The online activities allow for an easy introduction into the skills of “drag and drop” coding.
Volunteer Brian Owens from Carbonite shares his expertise with a student at Skiles Test Elementary.
“Hour of Code was a great way for students throughout the state to get introduced to coding,” said TPF4Y Volunteer & Events Coordinator Andy Fulton. “The activities kept the kids engaged and they felt more confident in their abilities at its conclusion. It’s amazing to see things ‘click’ for the students as they continue through the online lesson. We are so appreciative of the teachers for allowing us into the classrooms for this event.”
While Hour of Code has wrapped up for this year, the CoderDojo Indiana initiative is always looking for dedicated volunteers passionate about bringing computer science to underserved students. Currently, there are 32 CoderDojos in Indiana; CoderDojos are out-of-school time clubs hosted at schools, libraries, and community centers where students in grades K-12 can work collaboratively on their own coding projects, with the support of adult volunteers. To volunteer for a CoderDojo near you, visit the CoderDojo.com map or view the map to sign up a student.
Want to try Hour of Code activities at home?
For kindergarteners and 1st graders try: Sequencing with Scrat,
For intermediate students (2nd - 4th graders): Candy Quest
5th and 6th graders can try their hands at: Dragon Blast.
THANKS TO OUR 2019 HOUR OF CODE PARTNERS:
Lessonly Hosts IPS Students for Job Scavenger Hunt!
As one of Lessonly’s 2019 Brighter Indianapolis Fund community partners, TPF4Y has had the pleasure of engaging the Lessonly team in several volunteer opportunities, allowing them to witness firsthand the impact their support is having on TPF4Y’s hands-on STEM programs.
On October 30th, TPF4Y coordinated a customized volunteer experience for the Lessonly “llamas,” bringing 24 students from IPS Jonathon Jennings School 109 to the brand new Lessonly office space for a look at the jobs that help a successful company “Do Better Work.”
"We were fortunate to host a group of kids at the Lessonly HQ and introduce them to all of the different departments and jobs that our tech industry supports here in Indy,” said Katie Townsend, Lessonly’s Director of Enterprise Sales who also oversees Brighter Indy. “It's so critical to draw awareness to the hundreds of different types of professional roles waiting for these kids when they graduate, and also the importance of finding something that they truly enjoy doing.”
Lessonly Co-founder & CEO Max Yoder spoke to the students at the end of their visit.
The students, 2nd - 6th graders who were members of the school’s four VEX IQ robotics teams that started as a result of TPF4Y’s State Robotics Initiative start-up grant, experienced six stations during their visit: sales, marketing, services, client experience, product, and operations. Activities at these stations ranged from building LEGO llamas as a team, trying out video conferencing, and breaking down the concept of incorporating the company’s llama mascot into their brand. Of course, on the day before Halloween, costumes, candy, and spook-tacular treats had to be included in the festivities!
“It's been such an honor working with TP4Y this year and to witness how their programming makes such a positive impact on the children they serve,” Townsend concluded. “We loved sharing our culture and company with these students, and are thankful to TP4Y for making the experience possible for the kids and our Lessonly employees!"
If your company is interested in creating a custom volunteer experience with help from TPF4Y, contact us at Info@TechPointYouth.org for more information on corporate sponsorships!
Girl Powered Robotics Event!
International Day of the Girl is celebrated globally on October 11th in order to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face throughout the world. With girls being one of TPF4Y’s three priority populations, we decided to celebrate locally with our first ever Girl Powered robotics event!
Almost 50 girls from VEX Robotics teams in central Indiana participated in the event, with a focus on first- and second-year teams. After enjoying pizza and a chance to meet girls from other teams, participants split into three groups to visit stations led by student volunteers that focused on:
Design - Claire Bishop, a freshman who splits her time between homeschooling and Greenfield Central High School, led a brainstorming session that covered the pros and cons of different robot designs and prompted the girls to discuss the strategy involved in choosing the best design to fit your team’s goals.
Programming - Lauren Meyers, a Junior from Heritage Christian School, led the coding station where she reviewed basic strategies for coding a robot to perform tasks autonomously. She introduced coding to those students who had never coded before and covered more challenging coding strategies for experienced students.
Game Play - Jessa Steffen, a 7th grader from Hamilton Heights Middle School, led the game play strategy station where she reviewed all the tasks that need to be completed throughout this year’s game. She broke down the different strategies a team might use to accomplish these tasks and discussed the importance of clock management.
After each group had a chance to participate in all of the stations, the girls listened to a short panel discussion featuring the three student volunteers as well as Casey Matczak, a parent of one of the girls who has a career in electrical engineering.
The event and panel discussion were designed to encourage more girls to get involved in STEM programs, especially robotics. “It’s important for girls to engage in STEM because you use STEM in your everyday life,” said Jessa Steffen, one of the student volunteers. “And we need more women in the workforce.”
If you’re interested in supporting TPF4Y’s work with girls and other priority populations throughout Indiana by ensuring that more events like this can take place, please consider making a donation on Giving Tuesday! We appreciate your dedication to our goal of providing access to #Robots4All!
3rd Annual CoderDojo Indiana Hackathon!
On your mark… get set… code! On July 20th, CoderDojo Indiana (CDI), an initiative of TechPoint Foundation for Youth, hosted its third annual CoderDojo Indiana Hackathon, presented by Lessonly. This free, kids coding event engaged more than 99 student coders from around Indiana in a full day of computer science, food, and fun!
The day began with an opening ceremony led by George Giltner, VP of STEM Education, at 9am. Then, those students with some coding experience chose from three exciting challenges: Scratch, Python, or Ruby to showcase their coding skills. Each coder had 2 hours to complete programming challenges from different prompts given, trying to find solutions to problems within the codes!
Meanwhile, beginner coders had the chance to attend My First Dojo, where kids were able to try out a variety of hands-on CS activities using Makey Makey, Sphero, VEX IQ robots, and more.
After a pizza lunch, the Project Expo began! During the Project Expo, kids from all age groups had the opportunity to showcase their homemade coding projects. These projects were broken down by category: Games, Social Enterprise, and Scratch. They presented their projects to other kids attending the event and the judges, explaining what their program does, and answering questions along the way!
While the Project Expo was going on, we were also busy celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the moon landing with the MoonHack! Beginner hackers could try their hand at coding a NASA rover across the surface of the moon, overcoming the obstacles that awaited them!
The day concluded at 3:30pm with awards and prizes for kids in every category. Thanks to our friends at Raspberry Pi Foundation and individual donations, we were able to provide amazing prizes for our Scratch, Ruby, and Python Challenge Excellence and Project Expo winners! Our friend Max Yoder, CEO of this year’s presenting sponsor Lessonly, presented the awards to all of the winning students!
Congrats to all the winners - and check out our Facebook album for more pictures!
Want to join your local Dojo? Email myron@techpointyouth.org for information!
SRI Helps Teachers Fulfill New License Renewal Requirements
Most Indiana teachers are required to renew their teaching license every five years, which entails accruing 90 hours of professional development during that time frame. New professional license-renewal requirements were recently announced by the state of Indiana, requiring teachers who are renewing their license through “professional growth points,” which is the most common renewal path, to ensure that 15 of their 90 hours are workforce-related hours. This new requirement goes into effect on July 1, 2019, and is meant to give teachers professional development related to better preparing students for the workforce.
TechPoint Foundation for Youth, through its State Robotics Initiative, is offering 175 elementary and middle school teachers a chance to gain those hours by engaging their students in a fun - and free - robotics program.
Establishing a robotics team requires a coach - usually a teacher - who meets weekly with students for 10-16 weeks. TPF4Y funds the first year, providing a re-usable robotics kit, team registration, and professional development training on how to manage a robotics team. Coaches are also trained to complete a “classroom to career” activity with their students to show how competitive robotics directly relates to real world college and career pathways, a grant requirement that directly correlates to the teacher license renewal requirement. Teachers from schools awarded a grant:
Receive $760 worth of robotics supplies
Receive 15 hours of training that count toward Professional Growth Points that align with new teacher license requirements per House Enrolled Act 1002
Taking on the role of robotics coach gives teachers a free and fun way to gain the hours of professional development they need while also setting their students up for success in STEM jobs, something that is especially important given the increased STEM workforce demands in our state. Between 2017 and 2027, STEM jobs will grow 13% in Indiana (versus a 7% growth for non-STEM jobs). Plus, the median earnings in Indiana STEM jobs are more than $15 per hour higher than their non-STEM counterparts, and unemployment is significantly lower in STEM occupations. Many of the new workforce-related professional development opportunities that are surfacing for teachers are focused solely on fulfilling this new requirement, but lose sight of the opportunity for true professional development. TechPoint Foundation for Youth’s grant provides a long-lasting program that benefits Indiana students, while simultaneously helping teachers to achieve their professional development goals.
With a high impact program like the State Robotics Initiative, the numbers often speak for themselves. There is a 93% retention rate for teams receiving the comprehensive robotics start-up grant program from TechPoint Foundation for Youth, which speaks not only to the success teachers have had in implementing the program, but also the impact it is having on student participants and eventually, the Indiana economy.
Since the launch of the State Robotics Initiative in 2016, TechPoint Foundation for Youth has increased the number of VEX IQ robotics teams in Indiana from 73 to 1,536, more than any other state in the country. That means that more than 18,000 students are participating on those teams and, when asked, respond that they are more likely to attend college and pursue a STEM career thanks to their experience on the team.
Currently, eighty percent of Indiana school corporations have at least one school with a VEX IQ robotics team, but there are still more than 1,000 Indiana elementary and middle schools who are eligible for a robotics start-up grant and have yet to apply. TechPoint Foundation for Youth has $133,000 worth of grants to give away to 175 grant recipients for the 2019-20 school year.
Robotics helps kids learn to solve problems, create things, collaborate, and communicate with each other and their supervisors, vital 21st century workforce skills employers are asking for in their new hires. Other benefits include encouraging students, with a focus on reaching girls and children from underappreciated communities, to consider STEM careers, which will help Indiana increase minority representation in tech careers.
Creating a program like the State Robotics Initiative requires a cross-sector collaboration between school corporations, corporate partners, and community partners. Some of TechPoint Foundation for Youth’s partners who are making this happen for Indiana students include: the Indiana Department of Education, Indiana Department of Workforce Development, Guggenheim Life and Annuity, Roche Diagnostics, Eli Lilly and Company, and others. These partners each play a role based on the needs they see in our communities, whether that’s finding ways to connect students and teachers to real world experiences, building a pipeline of future employees, or developing workforce skills.
TechPoint Foundation for Youth needs the support of donors, volunteers, and coaches in order to make this program successful, so please contact us at info@techpointyouth.org if you see yourself filling one of these roles. If you want to check a specific Indiana school’s eligibility for the grant, you can also visit the robot map webpage.
Indiana Represented at 2019 VEX World Championship!
TPF4Y would like to recognize the tremendous accomplishments of all 120 Indiana robotics teams who competed at the 2019 VEX World Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, in April. It was an historic year for Indiana VEX teams, with more Indiana representation at the event than ever before! What’s even better? Twelve different home teams won awards at varying levels! (You can also view the Indiana Teams Worlds Results for the rankings of all of our Hoosier competitors!)
A few highlights we want to feature:
Out of the 12 teams that made it to the Elementary School Division finals, only two were from the United States and both were Eaglebots teams from Woodview Elementary in Nappanee, Indiana, coached by Jake Simons. They represented their state and country with pride accomplishing a second and sixth place overall finish. The Eaglebots also received the Elementary School Division Excellence Award, the most prestigious award a team can win.
In the Middle School Division finals, the Steel Eagles 1 from Zionsville Middle School, coached by Andy Seward, achieved a 3rd place finish, making them 1 of only 3 middle school teams from the United States to make the finals and the only team from Indiana.
Two teams from Indiana placed in the top ten for World Skills. Team 491X from Pioneer Jr-Sr High School, coached by Thomas Tam, had the 8th highest Skills score. Team 574C from Wawasee High School, coached by Jed Wandland, had the 2nd highest Skills score.
While we are very proud of the teams mentioned above, we want to congratulate each and every team that qualified for the 2019 VEX World Championship - just making it to the competition is a huge accomplishment! We hope that all of the Indiana teams had as much fun competing as we did cheering you on!
We are looking forward to the upcoming season to see all the excitement generated by the VRC challenge, Competition Tower Takeover and the VEX IQ challenge, Squared Away IQ. The countdown to next year’s Indiana VEX Robotics World Championship starts NOW!
TPF4Y’s Second Annual Pi Day Celebration Impacts Nearly 1000 Students
4th graders from New Augusta Public Academy South with a volunteer from First Internet Bank.
On March 14th, TPF4Y hosted our second official celebration of Pi Day presented by First Internet Bank! Pi Day is celebrated annually by mathematics fanatics around the globe as the day’s date (3.14) bears a striking resemblance to pi, the mathematical constant used in computing the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.
Thanks to a generous gift from First Internet Bank, TPF4Y was able to organize Pi Day events at local elementary schools with local STEM professionals volunteering to lead a math-focused activity provided by our partner, Math Pentathlon.
3rd graders from Indian Creek Elementary with a volunteer from First Internet Bank.
TPF4Y worked with nearly 1000 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade students from New Augusta Public Academy South, Indian Creek Elementary, Deer Run Elementary, and Sidener Academy to celebrate Pi Day by playing Juggle, a Math Pentathlon board game. New Augusta Public Academy South and Indian Creek Elementary had over 40 volunteers from First Internet Bank, Liberty Mutual, GEICO, Sogeti, and many more local companies leading the activity and helping students see how fun math can be.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to making Pi Day 2019 a success!
4th graders from New Augusta Public Academy South with a volunteer form Sogeti.
While Pi Day has passed for this year, we are still looking for volunteers to help facilitate Math Pentathlon games for students this summer and during the 2019-20 school year. Want to learn more? Think you might be able to help? Contact Volunteer@TechPointYouth.org!
2019 - Indiana VEX Robotics State Championship
The largest robotics state championship in the country took place on Saturday, March 10th at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, produced by TechPoint Foundation for Youth, powered by Guggenheim Life and Annuity and hosted by the City of Indianapolis. This is the second time the event has been held at the venue, bringing 361 Indiana elementary, middle, and high school teams together to compete for the opportunity to advance to this year's VEX Robotics World Competition being held in Louisville, Kentucky, at the end of April. More than 12,000 people were in attendance for the event.
Maddie Thumma and Leanne Cushing from BattleBots
Very special guests, Mayor Joe Hogsett, RECF CEO and Chairman of the Board, Dan Mantz, and IDOE Computer Science Specialist, Jake Koressel helped kick off the event, all presenting during the opening ceremony. Leanne Cushing and Maddie Thumma from BattleBots made a surprise appearance, with many words of encouragement for all of the female robotics students in the audience!
IndyVRC founder, Former Mayor Ballard, along with key representatives from top level sponsors including Indiana Department of Workforce Development, Indiana Department of Education, Roche Diagnostics, Eli Lilly and Company Foundation and additional supporting partners, attended to present awards including the coveted Ballard Teamwork Challenge trophies.
In addition to the nearly 1,900 robotics matches occurring on 50 different robotics fields throughout the day, an interactive TinkerFest presented by GEICO Cares took place that allowed students to tinker, make, discover, invent, create and play. 20 booths inspired more than 1,000 students through hands-on activities - and it was free to participate. TinkerFest also showcased finalists of the the inaugural Design it Make it Challenge. The contest, presented by TechPoint Foundation for Youth and IU School of Education, challenged K-12 teams to present a solution to a real world problem by designing and building a device that improves human health (see results below).
"This event was truly a milestone in our efforts with the State Robotics Initiative, and we were absolutely thrilled to put on a great event celebrating the success of Indiana robotics students," said VP of STEM Education for TechPoint Foundation for Youth, George Giltner, "With that being said, our work with the SRI will not be complete until every student in Indiana has access to a robotics program. We are looking forward to further expanding the impact of the initiative in the coming year."
The SRI grant program has helped launch more than 960 VEX IQ elementary and middle school teams since 2016. The 2019-20 grant is now open and the TPF4Y Robot Team hopes to award an additional 175 grants to eligible elementary and middle schools.
Due to the unprecedented growth of VEX IQ teams in Indiana, the state was awarded 110 qualifying spots for the 2019 World Competition - more than any state in the U.S. The 110 Indiana teams competing at Worlds will be matched up against 1,564 teams from over 30 countries in Louisville, Kentucky, from April 24-30.
Video recaps
Don’t miss these dynamic videos created by Query Productions for the State Championship:
Video played during the opening ceremonies
Final Results
Elementary VEX IQ
Middle School VEX IQ
Middle + High School VRC
Design it Make it Challenge Results
Judges Top Award
Adams Central Jr/Sr High, Monroe, IN
Design It Award
Binford Elementary School, Bloomington, IN
Make It Award
Riverside Intermediate School, Fishers, IN
State Finalists:
New Castle Middle School, New Castle, IN
Clear Creek Elementary, Bloomington, IN
University Elementary, Bloomington, IN
Binford Elementary School, Bloomington, IN
Celebrating Women's History Month with STEM Pioneers!
March is #WomensHistoryMonth and we are celebrating by highlighting female pioneers, both past and present, in STEM fields. Read on to learn more about women astronauts, chemists, computer scientists, geologists, mathematicians, paleontologists, physicists, and more!
Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first African American woman to become a physician in the United States & the only female physician author in the 19th century!
Marie Tharp was an American geologist & oceanographic cartographer who helped create the 1st scientific map of Earth's entire sea floor, revealing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge & changing the way earth scientists thought about the Earth's crust & its movement. (photo: Bruce Gilbert)
Florence Bascom was the 1st woman to be hired by the U.S. Geological Survey & the 1st woman to earn a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins. She's most known for her work with petrography (the description & classification of rocks, usually by microscopic study).
Dorothy Hodgkin was a British chemist who developed protein crystallography, for which she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964. Her research led to the discovery of the structure of penicillin, vitamin B12 & insulin. (photo: Royal Society of Chemistry)
Hypatia was the first female mathematician whose life is reasonably well recorded. She lived in Alexandria, Egypt around 400 AD & was known as a great teacher & wise counselor.
Rachel Carson was a marine biologist & conservationist who started her career at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She's the author of multiple books, including Silent Spring, which helped inspire the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency!
Samantha Cristoforetti is an Italian European Space Agency astronaut who holds the record for longest uninterrupted spaceflight of a European astronaut. She's the 1st Italian woman in space & is known as the first person who brewed an espresso in space!
Katsuko Saruhashi was a Japanese geochemist most well-known for her groundbreaking research on radioactive fallout. She was the 1st woman to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Tokyo.
Fran Allen is a computer scientist who was the 1st female IBM Fellow & the 1st woman to receive the Association for Computing Machinery’s Turing Award (aka the "Nobel Prize of computing"). (photo: Rama, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr)
Mary Anning was a paleontologist in the early 1800s who became world renowned for Jurassic marine fossils she discovered in the cliffs along the English Channel & contributed to important changes in scientific thinking about prehistoric life.
Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to fly in space! In 1963, she orbited the earth once every 88 minutes by operating her spacecraft manually. (photo: RIA Novosti archive)
Rosalind Franklin was a chemist best known for her work on the X-ray diffraction images of DNA while at Kings College London, which led to the discovery of the DNA double helix. (photo: personal collection of Jenifer Glynn)
Emmy Noether was a German mathematician who made important contributions to abstract algebra & theoretical physics. She was described by Albert Einstein as "the most significant creative mathematical genius" of her time.
Christine Darden is an American mathematician & aeronautical engineer who spent her career at NASA researching supersonic flight & sonic booms. She was the first black woman at NASA’s Langley Research Center to be promoted into the top rank in the federal civil service.
Shafi Goldwasser is a computer scientist and 1 of 3 women to win the Association for Computing Machinery’s Turing Award (aka the "Nobel Prize of computing"). She's a professor at both MIT & Weizmann Institute in Israel, cofounder of Duality Technologies & director of the Simon Institute!
Sally Ride was the 1st American woman in space (3rd overall) & remains the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space (at the age of 32)!
Grace Hopper was a celebrated computer scientist who earned her Ph.D. in mathematics from Yale before becoming a U.S. Navy rear admiral & one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer.
Marie Curie developed of the theory of radioactivity (a term that she coined). She was the 1st woman to win a Nobel Prize, the 1st person (& only woman!) to win twice, & the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences (#physics & #chemistry).
Jocelyn Bell Burnell is an astrophysicist who, as a postgraduate student at Cambridge University, co-discovered the first radio pulsars (rapidly spinning neutron stars formed in supernova explosions)! (photo: Daily Herald Archive / SSPL via Getty Images)
Florence Nightingale is widely known as the founder of modern nursing - International Nurses Day is celebrated on her birthday! - but was also gifted in mathematics and became a pioneer in the use of infographics and statistical graphics!
2nd Annual CoderDojo Indiana Hackathon!
On your mark… get set… code! On July 28th, CoderDojo Indiana (CDI), an initiative of TechPoint Foundation for Youth, hosted the second annual CoderDojo Indiana Hackathon. This free, kids coding event engaged more than 80 student “code ninjas” from around Indiana in a full day of computer science, food, and fun!
The day began with an opening ceremony led by Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett at 9am. Then, experienced code ninjas chose from three exciting challenges: Scratch, Python, or GameCraft. Each ninja had 5.5 hours to earn point by programming solutions to different prompts given in each challenge - the more difficult the challenge, the more points they earned.
Meanwhile, beginner ninjas had the chance to attend #MyFirstDojo, where kids were able to try out a variety of hands-on CS activities using Makey Makey, Sphero, VEX IQ Robots, and more.
The day concluded at 4pm with awards and prizes for kids in every category. Thanks to our friends at Raspberry Pi Foundation, we were able to provide an amazing prize for our Scratch and Python Challenge Excellence winners: travel stipends to attend Coolest Projects North America in Santa Ana, California, this September. Deesha Roopesh of Carmel and Christopher Wang of Fort Wayne will both travel to this national event to represent Indiana later this year.
Want to join your local Dojo? Email myron@techpointyouth.org for information!
2018 Summer Fun with Technology!
Most of the time, parents bemoan the amount of time kids spend staring at screens or looking at mobile apps. For two weeks this summer, that was a little different for 60+ kids who participated in one of TPF4Y's goIT Technology Camps!
goIT is an experiential, immersive technology education program developed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to demystify computer science and help students gain the skills and confidence required to pursue STEM degrees—and become tomorrow’s technology leaders. Thanks to TCS, these week-long camps as well as the volunteer training, were provided for free by TPF4Y.
“We are living in an age where kids have easy access to technology, whether that be through mobile phones, laptops, tablets, or otherwise. Our kids are very capable of understanding how to use these technologies, but not how to leverage them in improving their communities,” said Dennis Ma, Technology Specialist at TCS. “It's important for students to learn about technology at a young age and to be exposed to jobs and career paths that they might not know exist. We need to prepare our students to take on [the jobs of the future].”
In June and July, TPF4Y led a coalition of partners, including Salesforce.Org, Tata Consultancy Services, DREAM Alive, Direct Employers, Propel Up, and more, to host two goIT technology camps. More than 60 central Indiana students were able to participate in the program, which was mentored by local software development professionals.
"Here at DirectEmployers Institute, it is our mission to bring learning to life for our students. Programs like goIT... support our mission and are a perfect fit for [our] students, as teaching them about robotics and technology enables them to uncover both the hard and soft skills they weren’t previously aware of, allowing them to realize their full potential," said Kristabell Gichina of Direct Employer.
As part of these camps, students explored different technology careers, learned how to code using MIT App Inventor, and then worked on small teams to design, build, and present their first mobile application. While designing their apps, students were encouraged to brainstorm around solutions to real problems in their lives. Finished prototypes included a mental health awareness and education app, a fresh food access map targeted at users living in food deserts, and more. Some students even had the opportunity to work on their projects inside the Salesforce offices downtown, assisted by local developers!
Overall, more than 25 volunteers came together to mentor students during the two camps.
"PropelUp is all about connecting people to the relevant resources they need to learn throughout their lifetime," says Nick Birch, Co-Founder of PropelUp. "So the goIT program was a great initiative for our team to participate in because it allowed us to help high schoolers practice some of the skills and mindsets professional 'problem solvers,' aka software developers and designers, utilize in the real world."
We were excited to partner with Tata Consultancy Services to create this opportunity for Indiana kids and look forward to hosting more goIT camps next summer!
Want to learn how you can make an impact? Contact volunteer@techpointyouth.org to get involved!