Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Code/Interactive, a Bronx-based computer science education nonprofit, jointly launched the Code/Bronx initiative on December 8th at Boricua College’s Melrose Campus to start a computer science program at every school in the Bronx.
Bronx Borough President Diaz addressed the crowd and voiced his support for the Code/Bronx initiative, acknowledging that “the students of the Bronx need to be equipped to take the tech jobs…get the information, and start to code.” The tech sector is the fastest growing jobs sector in New York City, so preparing students with coding and computer science skills is essential for them to participate in 21st century jobs in any industry.
This September, Mayor DeBlasio to announced Computer Science For All, an initiative intended to provide computer science education to every student in New York City. The NYC Department of Education and the Computer Science Foundation of New York City (CSNYC) started a $81 million public-private partnership with inaugural partners, the Robin Hood Foundation and the AOL Charitable Foundation, in partnership with The Fund for Public Schools.
C/I’s Program Director, Tom O’Connell, announced the official launch of the Code/Bronx initiative to a crowd of teachers, principals, and school officials who were eager to get coding and computer science programs into their schools.
The Code/Bronx announcement and platform provide one way for Bronx schools and educators to learn about opportunities like Code.org‘s K-5 upcoming professional development in the Bronx, Codester’s python programming platform for middle school students, and Code/Interactive’s professional development during spring and summer 2016. C/I’s resource page reviews all of these upcoming events, along with links to more programs and websites intended to inspire students to learn how to code.
Tech events are occurring more frequently in the Bronx than ever before, with the Bronx Tech Meetup‘s monthly event series and special events like #YesWeCode and Assemblymember Michael Blake’s “New Faces of Tech”in September, which was covered by MSNBC.
Schools and volunteers should go to www.codebronx.org to fill out the School Form or Volunteer Form and access professional development resources through Code/Interactive’s Resource page.
Every student deserves a world class education, and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is taking the lead in supporting professional development and other technology programs to make sure that the borough’s students can compete in the 21st century economy.