It had all the makings of an ambush. At 1:45 p.m. on Monday, a half dozen adults tiptoed down the hall of the Boston Community Leadership Academy in Hyde Park, trying to remain unnoticed. But it was hardly a subtle procession: One carried a huge pink and white cake. Another juggled a sign that read 'I love Computer Science' as they worked their way toward Nora LaCasse's classroom.
Then, in a burst of motion, the group pushed through the door, startling both students and teacher alike. The roomful of juniors and seniors looked up from their MacBooks, where they had been busy building websites, as Heather Carey, the executive director of the education foundation for the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, lead the room in a round of cheers.
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'CS is the best! CS is the best,' they chanted, wrapping LaCasse in a white feather boa as the computer science teacher turned a light shade of magenta.
Monday marked the start of the Computer Science Education week - a national effort to bring coding to the masses - and across the region members of the tech community have been busy celebrating the promise of programming and the work of such educators as LaCasse.
It is an important effort. The National Science Foundation has determined that by 2020, more than 50 percent of projected US jobs in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields will need computer science training. And while 1.4 million computer science-related jobs will come online in the next decade, current figures suggest only 400,000 computer science students will graduate with the skills to apply for those jobs.
'Our kids are our next leaders and innovators,' said Julia Austin, a 25-year veteran of Boston's tech scene who has been chairing the education activities hosted by MassTLC. 'We have to know how technology works, and we don't have enough people being trained as developers and programmers.'
As part of their push, MassTLC has partnered with programmers from Google, RunKeeper, and other area businesses to share their skill sets in dozens of classrooms, libraries, and offices in Greater Boston. In all, they say they have scheduled more than 800 hours of educational efforts. Microsoft has been hosting free coding sessions at its area storefronts. By week's end, every student in Somerville Public Schools will take part in an 'Hour of Code' session, using a simple Web-based tool created by the nonprofit Code.org. And this weekend, The Museum of Science will let guests design their own robots and build light-up sculptures.
And while many participants in Greater Boston's tech community have planned structured educational sessions, Carey and her team decided to go one step further and celebrate computer science - and those teaching the next generation of coders - through a series of guerilla-style events they dubbed 'Random Acts of Code.'
Carey noted that in Massachusetts, most public schools consider computer science an elective rather than a core subject. But she said she has found that when students are exposed to coding, it often opens doors into STEM careers that they would not have considered.
That was certainly the case in LaCasse's class Monday. 'This is a class for students who have failed a math or science class,' LaCasse said, still wrapped in her boa. 'And it's really working for most of them because there's the motivation of technology and building and creation. They have all shown to be really creative problem-solvers.'
Solving the problem of computer illiteracy is imperative, said Carey. She said she often tells students that having a baseline understanding of coding will give them an edge, noting the often-cited Department of Labor stat that 65 percent of today's grade school students will end up in jobs that don't even exist yet.
'Don't just consume technology,' she said. 'Produce it.'
Janelle Nanos can be reached at janelle.nanos@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @janellenanos and on betaboston.com.
Entities 0 Name: LaCasse Count: 4 1 Name: Carey Count: 3 2 Name: Greater Boston Count: 2 3 Name: Boston Community Leadership Academy Count: 1 4 Name: Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council Count: 1 5 Name: Google Count: 1 6 Name: Department of Labor Count: 1 7 Name: Julia Austin Count: 1 8 Name: Boston Count: 1 9 Name: Heather Carey Count: 1 10 Name: Microsoft Count: 1 11 Name: Museum of Science Count: 1 12 Name: Hyde Park Count: 1 13 Name: Massachusetts Count: 1 14 Name: Nora LaCasse Count: 1 15 Name: National Science Foundation Count: 1 16 Name: US Count: 1 17 Name: Somerville Count: 1 18 Name: Janelle Nanos Count: 1 19 Name: Computer Science Education Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1z3mEbw Title: Why the Future Will be Made by Creators, Not Consumers | WIRED Description: Megan Smith, Chief Technology Officer of the United States and former Google executive, wants every child to be able to code. That's a sweeping but practical vision. If we're teaching students the languages of letters and numbers to be able to speak, understand, and impact this world - math, science, technology, and code must be...
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