News
CS Ed Week
December 5, 2019
SFIS to host national Computer Science Education Week kickoff
SANTA FE, N.M. – The City of Santa Fe has the extraordinary privilege of being selected as the host city for the national kickoff event of Computer Science Education Week (aka Hour of Code), which will be live streamed from the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS) Everett F. Chavez Pueblo Pavilion on Monday, December 9th, 2019 at 10 a.m.
SFIS is partnering with Code.org, the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), and t;he Computer Science Alliance (a new non-profit in NM) to celebrate the 7th Annual Hour of Code. This year, Code.org and CSTA decided to change the message of CS Ed Week and have the opening at a school. In the past Kickoff events have been at the White House, NY Stock Exchange, Silicon Valley, Seattle – all on the coast in big cities. “Computer Science Alliance is the regional partner to Code.org and when we took a chance and pitched Santa Fe Indian School, they got very excited about the idea of having the event at a school that represents diversity both in terms of demographics but also geography,” stated CS Alliance's Executive Director, Paige Prescott.
Ms. Prescott has a long history of working with Kate Sallah, the SFIS computer science teacher, and felt comfortable reaching out to her and her colleagues about bringing this opportunity to New Mexico and specifically to SFIS. The Computer Science course is a dual enrollment course at SFIS allowing high school students to earn college credit and develop employable skills.
SFIS Superintendent Roy M. Herrera adds, “Ms. Sallah has done a tremendous job collaborating with University of New Mexico, where our students earn college credit. She also mentored two seniors, Terrell Toledo and Elias Trancosa, to win first place in the 2018 Congressional App Challenge for U.S. Representative Ben Ray Lujan’s 3rd Congressional District”. SFIS has an established history of providing a computer science curriculum dating back to 1985 when it offered its first computer programming course.
Kickoff remarks will include Code.org Chief Executive Officer, Hadi Partovi, and CSTA Executive Director, Jake Baskin, and New Mexico Lt. Governor Howie Morales. A special panel discussion will explore this year’s theme “CS for Good” with an emphasis on engaging diverse communities. The agenda concludes with an awards ceremony for the 2019 Champions of Computer Science. The live audience will include 400 students from SFIS and other schools in New Mexico.
Event details:
Television/Video cameras not allowed.
For more information: