Every December there’s a huge influx of computer science education activities due to Computer Science Education Week (CSEd Week.) The Constellations Center for Equity in Computing (Constellations) regularly introduces students to computing concepts in Atlanta’s public school classrooms and expanded these opportunities during CSEd week.
The center reached more than 900 students at high schools in the Atlanta Public School (APS) district, a 500% increase from the same period in 2018, by hosting computer science carnivals that select teachers could opt to bring their classes to.
Students had the opportunity to learn about video game design, create their own emoji using Raspberry Pi, and fly a drone through an obstacle course – just to name a few of the activities available.
“CSEd Week is the week that we promote computer science education nationally in schools K-12. Last year, we brought students to Georgia Tech’s campus, but this year we wanted it to be more inclusive and include students not just in our computer science courses, but students across the campus at each school,” said Constellations fellow Terry Foster.
Activities were run by Constellations staff, teachers at the schools, or volunteers from U.S. Bank and Elavon.
“It’s fun to actually sit down with people who are just learning, and they will see things differently than you. We really do need to make sure that everybody understands what’s going on in the world, what’s involved in it, and that it is worth learning,” said Michael Zadoff, a project manager and volunteer from Elavon.
Computer Science Education Week is held every year to coincide with legendary computer scientist Grace Hopper’s birthday.
