Last week Microsoft celebrated Computer Science Education Week with a number of activities across the country. In the Bay Area, employees visited local schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, and Microsoft Stores to teach introductory computer programming as part of the Hour of Code movement. We reached 300 local students in just five days, and hopefully planted the seed for their continued exploration of STEM subjects.
Bay Area 6th graders and Chris Clark, Mayor of Mountain View, participating in an Hour of Code session during Computer Science Education Week
On Sunday we hosted a special screening of the documentary film Big Dream, which follows the stories of seven young women in technology fields around the globe. We were thrilled when the event sold out with 400 registered attendees. Just before showing the film we asked the girls in the audience to share their big dreams. Amidst chef, gym teacher, and dermatologist (not kidding) were astronaut and engineer.
Christine Matheney, Tech Evangelist at Microsoft, taking questions from the audience before the screening of ‘Big Dream’
Why is this important?
In California, 81,083 computing jobs are currently available and the demand is growing at a rate of more than 4x the state average. While the Golden State is the proud birthplace of technology companies like Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Twitter, and Tesla, our current K-12 education system is not preparing students with the technical skills they need to compete in this thriving market. Part of the problem is that high school computer science courses currently count as electives in the University of California A-G system, rather than math or science. The A-G system determines minimum entrance requirements to state schools and is often used by many high school districts to define graduation requirements. In order to empower and inspire tomorrow’s innovators, it is a vital first step that computer science be accepted in the list of A-G required subject areas.
How can you help?
Code.org offers these suggestions:
- Tell your local school district to allow computer science courses to satisfy a core math or science requirement
- Call on your school to expand computer science offerings in K-12
- Visit code.org/promote/ca to learn more about how you can support computer science education in California
At Microsoft, we never forget that we are a company that was started by two kids who learned to code. We were proud to participate in Computer Science Education Week once again, and share our passion for coding with tomorrow’s innovators.
To learn more about Microsoft’s commitment to youth and education, visit our YouthSpark Hub.
