[TriZPUG] Teen Tech Camp 2013

[Julia Elman]

Hello TriPythoners!

I hope that everyone is doing well and having a great start to their Summer!  

I have some exciting news that I want to share with my local Python community. But first, a little background…

> Last year, I helped out a local users group called Refresh the Triangle (http://www.meetup.com/refreshthetriangle/) put together a Teen Tech Camp at the Southwest Durham Public Library (http://www.durhamcountylibrary.org/locations/so.php). The camp involved professional technologists from the greater Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) connecting with area teens and teaching them a range of aspects about web focused technologies. It was a very successful event for all, with over 30 students learning about web design, blogging and front end web development.  
>  
> During the camp, one of the volunteers brought in a Raspberry Pi for the students to learn about. It was by far one the most interesting aspects of the event. Almost every participant gathered around the device to learn more about it. We were impressed to see so many of them interested and wanting to learn more about this micro-computer. It was a part of the camp we really noticed and took note of.  
tl:dr;
> I helped host a Teen Tech Camp in Durham in 2012 and the kids seemed super interested in learning about Rapberry Pi's.

For 2013, I thought it would be a great idea to make the Teen Tech Camp all about learning Python and Raspberry Pi's, sort of like what we did at the Young Coders tutorial (https://us.pycon.org/2013/events/letslearnpython/) at PyCon 2013. I spoke with one of the co-organizers of Refresh, Sarah Khan, and we started gathering the details to get this years event underway.

And now, my exciting news… last week, the Python Software Foundation graciously accepted a proposal we presented them, of which covers the cost for all 20 of the students to receive Raspberry Pi packs of their own! Very cool and we are thrilled to have received this grant.

BUT…. we still need help!  

Here are some areas that I thought Tripythoner's might be want to help in:

- Peripherals: We need to get monitors, keyboards, mice and various cords (e.g. HDMI, VGA > HDMA); we are looking for either donations or assistance in finding places to rent these from

- Teaching assistants: Kurt Grandis has kindly offered to help in putting together the curriculum! We are looking for teaching assistants to help him out either with putting the curriculum together or teaching on the day of the event (Tuesday, August 13th, setup on Monday, August 12th)

Please feel free to email me or Sarah (who is cc'd to this message) if you are interested in helping out! This is going to be a very exciting event and am happy that we are able to bring the kind of education I saw at the Young Coders tutorial, back to the Triangle!

Best regards,

Julia Elman
@juliaeman (http://twitter.com/juliaelman)
juliaelman.com (http://juliaelman.com)


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