We invite you to join NASA CONNECTS!
You can join as a formal K-12 educator or as a professional in the informal education (out-of-school time) field. If you have a Gateway account, click the button below to log in through NASA Gateway, then register to join NASA CONNECTS. If you do not have a NASA Gateway account, you will need to create one before joining this community of practice by clicking the button below and following the prompts.
Visit the website https://nasacentral.force.com/cop/s/
What are the benefits you may ask?
The Arkansas Department of Education Office of Computer Science is pleased to announce the winners of our Innovation in Computer Science School Grant Program announced via Commissioner’s Memo COM-21-055 on December 10, 2020 https://adecm.ade.arkansas.gov/ViewApprovedMemo.aspx?Id=4621. The following 16 schools were selected from a total of 30 applicants, based on proposals that indicated efforts to expand their computer science program and implement innovative best practices and will each receive grants totaling $207,722.94 from the Arkansas Department of Education Office of Computer Science.
Beryl Henry Elementary in Hope – $24,856.00
Yellville-Summit High School in Yellville – $24,050.00
Rose Bud High School in Rose Bud – $22,560.89
Greenbrier Junior High School in Greenbrier – $19,877.00
Harrison High School Conversion Charter in Harrison – $19,650.00
Bauxite High School in Bauxite – $19,311.00
Elkins High School in Elkins – $19,178.43
Fouke Elementary School & Paulette Smith Middle School in Fouke – $12,826.67
Mineral Springs High School & Elementary School in Mineral Springs – $10,829.73
Arkansas Virtual Academy Elementary and Middle School in Little Rock – $8,000.00
Carlisle High School in Carlisle – $7,496.32
Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg – $6,754.32
Westside High School in Jonesboro – $5,715.00
Perryville High School in Perryville – $3,719.38
Valley View Public Schools in Jonesboro – $2,549.20
Magnet Cove Middle School in Malvern – $349.00
The listed recipients will use the funds to cover the expenses associated with purchasing curriculum, software licenses, and non-fundamental equipment, and provide professional development or student incentives, as outlined in their submitted budgets. Final awards are subject to grant performance and the approval of the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Taken from: https://adecm.ade.arkansas.
We’re so excited to bring back one of our most popular incentive programs.
This 2021-22 school year, Clubs are eligible to receive free Girls Who Code swag once three or more students are enrolled on HQ! 
How can you get free Girls Who Code swag?
Step 1: Start your Club at girlswhocode.com/clubsapply.
Step 2: Enroll three or more students on Girls Who Code HQ, our official platform.
Step 3: That’s it! We’ll email instructions for how to claim Clubs swag once your third Club member is enrolled!
The unCommission is a massive, diverse, and participatory experience that will determine the next set of transformative goals for preK-12 STEM education. We are bringing together hundreds of young people across the country, with a focus on those most excluded from STEM opportunity, to share their personal experiences and stories about science, engineering, technology and math. From these stories, we will distill insights and develop a constellation of goals for the future of STEM education.
We hope to hear from as many young people as possible by October 15, 2021. To show our gratitude, we will send all storytellers a link to select any of these gifts after they submit a story.
Who is a Storyteller?
A storyteller is any young person aged 13-29 who wants to share their real experiences in STEM learning in the United States to help reveal the most important themes and patterns related to STEM education. We are especially hoping to hear from those furthest from inclusion in the STEM fields, particularly Black, Latinx, and Native American communities.
What is a Story?
Stories are accounts of your experiences with STEM learning — there are no right or wrong answers! Stories can feel joyful, apathetic, or sad. They can be a typed letter (max 500 words), a handwritten letter (max one page), or an audio or video journal (max 4 minutes).
What will the unCommission do with these stories?
Once stories are submitted, they will be read and listened to by trained researchers, who will pull out themes and patterns from the hundreds of stories that are collected. These insights will be turned into new national education goals for the country that the unCommission will share broadly–including with the Biden Administration!
How to Add Your Voice
There are two ways for young people to share their STEM story (Note: 13-17 year olds MUST get parental consent before submitting a story. To get consent simply log onto the platform — it will prompt you and/or your guardian/parent through the process.):
1) Storytellers can submit a story anytime by creating a profile on the unCommission storytelling platform and responding to the following prompt: “Describe an experience you had in science, math, engineering, and/or technology, inside or outside the classroom, from pre-K-12th grade. How did you feel in that experience, and what made you feel that way?” (Estimated time commitment: 15 minutes)
2) Storytellers can attend one of the below Story Hours hosted by 100Kin10. These Story Hours are an opportunity for storytellers to learn more about the unCommission and get support creating their story. Register in advance below! (Estimated time commitment: 1 hour)
For storytellers ages 18-29:
- Tuesday, September 14, 8-9 pm ET
- Saturday, September 25, 3-4 pm ET
- Tuesday, September 28, 5-6 pm ET
- Wednesday, October 6, 7-8pm ET
For storytellers ages 13-17:
- Tuesday, September 14, 5-6 pm ET
- Saturday, September 25, 2-3 pm ET
- Tuesday, September 28, 7-8 pm ET
- Wednesday, October 6, 6-7pm ET
Questions? Reach out to uncommission@100Kin10.org.
In a video recorded interview, Pedro Martinez, superintendent of the San Antonio Independent School District, told Jan Morrison, founder of TIES, that it’s not just enough to “go back” to school and that it’s time to “be better.”
Martinez, who is also chair of the Chiefs for Change, offered broad comments about the role of ecosystems in improving schools, how rewarding and paying teachers a decent wage is a matter of social justice and how children are ready for learning and challenges.
The conversation with Morrison and Martinez was a follow-up to the Spring 2020 STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice convening held in San Antonio where Martinez spoke in-person and challenged Ecosystem leaders to better engage their students.
The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) Office of Computer Science is pleased to announce the launch of the “Computers ARe Fun” video series. This series of videos, which will be released throughout the Summer of 2021, are intended for younger viewers, typically Pre-K – 5th grade, and will help children understand the basics of computers, including introductory computer literacy, some coding, low level hardware discussions, and appropriate cybersecurity and internet security topics. In addition, the series will share information about computer science and computing careers in a fun way.
Videos within the series will be posted to the ADE YouTube page in the “Computers ARe Fun” playlist as they are made available at http://csforar.info/ComputersAReFun.
Episode 1, “What is a computer?” has been posted and is available today!
While the first episode is more of an introduction to the series, subsequent episodes will delve into various computer science and computing topics. Some of the content shared will be accessible online, but much of it will focus on unplugged activities that children can explore with their family without the use of computing devices.
If you have any questions, comments, or want to get involved in the creation of a “Computers ARe Fun” video for this summer, please reach out to Anthony.Owen@ade.arkansas.gov.
Gov. Hutchinson Announces Winners of State Coding Competition
2021 Arkansas Computer Science Educator of the Year Also Announced
Little Rock — Gov. Asa Hutchinson is pleased to announce the winners of the Fifth Annual Governor’s All-State Coding Competition, which was held this past weekend at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Donaghey Student Center. Students at the Don Tyson School of Innovation in Springdale received the first-place prize, students at Rogers New Technology High School in Rogers received second place, and a team from eStem High School in Little Rock received the third place honor.
“For the fifth straight year, this competition has inspired impressive solutions from Arkansas’ top computer science students,” Hutchinson said. “Their work reinforces my confidence that these students will be more than well prepared to take the reins of leadership. When you consider the caliber of the five teachers we recognized, it’s no surprise that we are seeing this excellence in our computer science students.”
The winning team from the Don Tyson School of Innovation (Lucas Kellar, Luke Lyons, and Drake Mayes) each received a 529 college savings plan prize worth $2,000. Students at Rogers New Technology High School (Joshua Willard, Aldan Garner, and David Daniel) each received a 529 college savings plan prize worth $1,000, and students at eStem High School (Elijah Keen, Spencer Knight, and Sergio Markin) each received a 529 college savings plan prize worth $500. In addition to the individual awards, winning schools received $10,000, $6,000, and $4,000 respectively to support their computer science programs.
Since the contest’s 2016 inaugural year, Verizon has provided $225,000 in financial support for the competition. More than 100 teams from across the state participated in this year’s digital regional competition. The top 16 teams from that regional event along with a team from last year’s first-place school received invitations to compete in the 2021 competition.
2021 Computer Science Educator of the Year Named
In addition to the announcing the contest winners at the event, Ashley Kincannon, a teacher at Lake Hamilton Junior High School in the Lake Hamilton School District, was named the 2021 Arkansas Computer Science Educator of the Year. In addition to receiving a $2,500 award when named a finalist, Kincannon received an additional $12,500 award from the Arkansas Department of Education’s Office of Computer Science.
Hutchinson also recognized the other four finalists at the event:
- Carl Frank – Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts
- Kimberly Raup – Conway High School (Conway School District)
- Stacy Reynolds – McGehee High School (McGehee School District)
- Lauren Taylor – Dardanelle High School (Dardanelle School District)
We appreciate the service of all the computer science educators in the state of Arkansas, the sponsors who made this year’s competition possible, and we appreciate and congratulate all the participants and winners for such a successful event!