The Computer Science Teachers Association has come a long way since its fledgling days after its founding in 2005.
The area I am most proud of is our membership. From the very beginning, CSTA has been about building community among computing teachers and the people who care about them. Our 7300+ members range from elementary school teachers through graduate school professors. Through the Leadership Cohort, local communities have started to form. Each chapter has members from the K-12 and university arenas.
One of CSTA’s great strengths is its volunteers. Every single CSTA resource was created by a group of dedicated volunteers who gave their time and expertise to provide something of value for the community. The original steering committee who created the organization has evolved into a fully elected Board of Directors that encompasses representatives from all levels of education; all of whom give hours of their time each month to guide the organization. CSTA is also fortunate to have an Advisory Committee of experts from education, industry, and government who provide us with a broad perspective for all of our activities.
CSTA continues to host a number of key events that provide offer professional development for our community. The Computer Science & Information Technology Symposium has a ten-year track record. It has become the premier national professional development event for K-12 computer science and information technology teachers.
In an effort to provide more local access to professional development and community, CSTA also continues to work with in partnership with colleges and universities to provide workshops through the Teacher Enrichment in Computer Science program. We expect that this program will continue to expand as more local CSTA chapters are formed. Last year we have held two workshops (one at Google and one at SIGCSE) to help colleges and universities improve their outreach to K-12.
CSTA also continues to focus on providing key benefits to its members, including the CSTA Voice, copies of CSTA white papers, classroom posters, careers brochures, and curriculum resources just to name a few.
And because the needs and concerns of our field are greater than any one organization, CSTA is also building strong partnerships across the community, with groups such as ACM SIGCSE,the Anita Borg Institute, the National Center for Women in Information Technology, the College Board, and the National Science Foundation.
If you are a member, thank you for continuing to support us in all of these efforts. If you are not yet a member, come be part of this vibrant and dedicated community! You can join online at:
http://csta.acm.org/Membership/sub/IndividualMembership.html
Michelle Hutton
CSTA President