Yes, you can! If I can be an advocate you can be one too! It is not difficult to get started. I began by advocating at my school site for computer science with the counseling staff and the administration to help grow enrollment. I continue to advocate with administration because, as we all know, they are more mobile than teachers.

You can be an advocate at your school site. My school has a new principal coming on board in a few days. He held site meetings after he was informed that he was hired for the position. He was reviewing with the faculty all of the “programs” that he was aware of on the campus and what they were accomplishing. I reminded him that he had failed to mention my program. When asked about my program I filled him in on what was happening with computer science and I continue to send him short informative emails about computer science news.

You can be an advocate with your local legislators. I tried unsuccessfully last year to have the California state legislature recognize Computer Science Education week. I was told that I had contacted my local representatives too late. This year I started earlier. My local legislator agreed to take on the task of getting legislation passed. I was asked to supply some sample language. I found sample language on the CS Ed Week website and sent it to him. I learned a couple of weeks ago that it passed! For those in California the legislation is ACR 108 and here is a link to the press release.

You can be an advocate with teachers. The ed tech community is a great place to start. I attend Ed Camps because they are free and you can self-select the sessions. Each of the Ed Camps I have attended has had at least one session on coding. I make a point of attending that session and I urge the teachers to join CSTA to get more resources. I also add information about free resources for teachers. Follow this link for more information about Ed Camps and their list of Conferences.

Another teacher group you can be an advocate to is your local ISTE affiliate. For California, that group is CUE. I have spoken at their local conferences on integrating computer science into the elementary and middle school curriculum and have urged the teachers to join CSTA. They also included me on a Twitter Chat devoted to Hour of Code when I asked what CUE could do to support CS Ed Week and Hour of Code. After Hour of Code, the state organization devoted their entire magazine to coding. I wrote a letter to the editor thanking her for the great issue but I also suggested that they had missed some good resources. I was surprised when she offered to let me write a follow-up article. With the help of Patrice Gans and Chris Stephenson I wrote the article.

The teacher’s union is another group that I advocate to. I have not been as successful with that group, but I have attended sessions on CTE and have shared CSTA to their teachers at the session. I am also a member of the National Education Association CTE Caucus and will be attending the NEA Conference which begins in a few days in Denver. The CTE Caucus will have an information booth and I will have CSTA brochures and my business card available.

I have a listed a few things that I have done to advocate for computer science and CSTA. Please respond with what you have done to be an advocate.

Myra Deister
CSTA At-Large Representative