CSEdWeek is all about the celebration. We celebrate the teachers who share the challenge and the excitement of the discipline with their students, we celebrate the students who, through their study of computer science, are transitioning from passive users and consumers of technology to creators of technology. And we celebrate the great pioneers of computer science such as Grace Murray Hopper (creator of the Cobol programming language) whose birthday falls in this week.
The beauty of CSEdWeek is that there are an infinite number of ways we can celebrate all of these things. One of our CSTA members, Bill Dunklau, sent us a message about how a couple of activities his school has done so far this week.
For Monday, Dec. 5, the school announcements included:
December 5-9 is Computer Science Week, so chosen to honor Grace Hopper, Rear Admiral, US Navy, an early computer pioneer and developer of the first compiler, whose birthday was December 9. Watch the computer science bulletin board for new student programs to be added throughout the week.
For Wednesday, Dec. 7, the announcements included:
In honor of Computer Science Week, December 5-9: Computer Science graduates now get more offers of employment than any other major. “There are many different types of companies that need to hire computer scientists,’ said Mimi Collins. “One computer science grad may have 10 offers. Annabelle Evans graduated as a computer science major from the University of Southern California in 2008. [Annabelle]…now works at Google.” [From SD Times, August 2011.]
Everything we do to celebrate CSEdWeek is important because it celebrates how far we have come and how far our students can go. As Buzz Lightyear said “To infinity and beyond!”
Chris Stephenson
CSTA Executive Director