In our most recent CSTA Central NJ Chapter meeting one of our members shared activities that her HS computer club enjoyed. Our chapter members were very excited about possibly duplicating the activity that Carolyn describes below. Maybe you will give it a try in your community!
My name is Carolyn Segreto and I am the Computer Science teacher at Brick Township High School. Two years ago three former AP Computer Science students of mine came to me and wanted to form a computer programming club, so that they could continue to program. We decided to make it a computer club so that any student that liked computers could join. We promoted the club through word of mouth, posters, and morning announcements and had a good showing at our first meeting.
The students wanted to do community service so we contacted the senior communities in Brick and invited them to a workshop to answer any questions that they had about computers. The students prepared a PowerPoint presentation about basic topics with computers (searching the internet, internet safety, E-mail, Microsoft Office, Facebook, etc.) After the presentation, we had a hands-on computer lab to answer any individual questions the seniors had about computers (since they all were at different skill levels). There was such an overwhelming response we had three more workshops just to satisfy the waitlist. Administration appreciates the community outreach and the seniors that come to our workshops have nothing but praise for our students.
What I found was that almost fifty percent of the club was girls who loved to cater to the seniors and help them with their computer questions. All of these girls eventually signed up for my programming classes. Since I have had the computer club, the enrollment for my programming classes has tripled and one third of my enrollment is girls. This is an incredible bonus!
Feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you have any further questions.
Carolyn Segreto
Computer Science Teacher
Brick Township High School 
Brick, NJ
732-785-3000 x6857
What involvement does your computer club have with your community? Share your stories!
Fran Trees,
CSTA Chapter Liaison