President Obama seeks to promote education, specifically science and math education.
The president hosts the annual White House Science Fair, honoring students who won “STEM competitions” — in science, technology, engineering, and math — from across the country.
POTUS Obama first hosted the science fair in 2010, the idea being that winners of education contests should be treated like sports champions.
On Monday, April 22 President Obama hosted the 3rd Annual White House Science Fair, celebrating the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country.
This year’s Science Fair featured 100 students from more than 40 states and represent 45 different competitions and organizations that recognize the talents of America’s next generation of scientists, engineers, inventors and innovators. Students are showcasing projects ranging from economically-viable algae biofuel to a robot that paints with watercolor to a computer program that improves cancer detection and many more.
The White House schedule cites this Obama quote: “If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you’re a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too.”
For a full list of the exhibits that the President will see, as well as more information on all the students, competitions, and organizations being honored, click here.
LeVar Burton, Bill Nye and Cristin Dorgelo interview young innovators at the 3rd White House Science Fair.
“President Obama Speaks at the 2013 White House Science Fair”
Published on Apr 22, 2013
The White House Science Fair celebrates the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country.
President Obama is amazed by the Robot “Vator” created and presented by Victoria Flechter, Rush Lyons, and Thomas Shields from St Vincent de Paul, located in Theodore, Alabama.
President Obama looks at the COOL PADS for shoulders, helmet, armpits and groin created by the trio of Evan Jackson, Alec Jackson and Caleb Robinson, from Flippen Elementary School, McDonough, Georgia, during the 3rd Annual White House Science Fair.
Barack Bicycling: Bicycle-Powered Emergency Water-Sanitation Station
President Obama rides a bicycle-powered emergency water-sanitation station, created by high school students Payton Karr and Kiona Elliot from Oakland Park, Florida.
President Obama on the Equal Futures Partnership App Challenge
Uploaded on Apr 19, 2013
President Obama issued a challenge before the United Nations General Assembly in September 2011 to break down barriers to women’s political and economic empowerment.In response to this challenge, on September 24, 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched the Equal Futures Partnership on behalf of the United States along with 12 other founding members (Australia, Benin, Bangladesh, Denmark, Finland, Indonesia, Jordan, the Netherlands, Peru, Senegal, and Tunisia; as well as the European Union).
Multilateral stakeholders including UN Women and the World Bank, and leading businesses and non-profit institutions also pledged support for the partnership. The goal of the Equal Futures Partnership is for women to participate fully in public life and to lead and benefit from inclusive economic growth. Part of the partnership call to action was an app challenge to create apps that encourage political empowerment in girls. Learn more athttp://www.whitehouse.gov/cwg
Today, President Obama will host the 3rd Annual White House Science Fair and celebrate the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country.
This year’s Science Fair will showcase student projects like an economically-viable algae biofuel, a robot that paints with watercolor, a computer program that improves cancer detection and many more.
West Wing Week: 04/19/13 or “Selflessly. Compassionately. Unafraid.”
Last week, the President responded to the terror attack in Boston, met with AmeriCorps volunteers, invited the Wounded Warrior riders to the White House, and for the first time, asked a citizen to deliver the weekly address.
Today’s Schedule
All times are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).
10:45 AM: The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing.
12:00 PM: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney.
1:35 PM: The President views science fair projects.
2:25 PM: The President delivers remarks at the White House Science Fair.
2:50 PM: The President observes a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.
President Barack Obama meets with members of his national security team to discuss developments in the Boston bombings investigation, in the Situation Room of the White House, April 19, 2013. Pictured, from left, are: FBI Director Robert Mueller; Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; Attorney General Eric Holder; Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken; and Vice President Joe Biden. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza).
On Monday, April 22, President Obama will host the 3rd Annual White House Science Fair and celebrate the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country.
This year’s Science Fair will showcase students projects such as economically-viable algae biofuel, a robot that paints with watercolor, a computer program that improves cancer detection and many more.
To learn more about the White House science fair, check out the video above, and be sure to tune in Monday, April 22 starting at 11:30 am EDT, right here at wh.gov/sciencefair, to watch the event live.
Hear from National Medal of Science and Technology and Innovation Laureates as they discuss their groundbreaking work and the importance of STEM education to prepare America for the jobs of the future.
In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama issued a call to better equip American graduates for the demands of a high-tech economy. Specifically, he called on the nation’s high schools to forge new partnerships with colleges and employers, and create classes that focus on science, technology, engineering, and math—the “STEM” subjects – calling them “the skills today’s employers are looking for to fill the jobs that are there right now and will be there in the future.”
Indeed, students with STEM skills are a driving force that keeps America competitive, creative, and innovative. As just one example—the most common educational background of CEO’s in the S&P 500 companies is not finance or business… but engineering. Whether it’s by unearthing new discoveries, inventing new technologies, or starting innovative companies—STEM-educated students are well-poised to make an enormous positive impact when they enter the workforce.
Earlier this month, at a White House ceremony where some of the nation’s top scientists and innovators were awarded the National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation, President Obama spoke about this tremendous potential of STEM-educated Americans to make a difference. He marveled at the honorees’ great range of extraordinary accomplishments, including new discoveries about the depths of space and our oceans, the invention of batteries that today help power everything from cell phones to cars, and the development of the LASIK eye surgery technique and other medical innovations that have improved countless lives.
President Barack Obama studies a challenge coin presented to him by an emergency responder during a greet in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building South Court Auditorium Ante Room before remarks urging action to avoid the automatic budget cuts scheduled if Congress fails to find a path forward on balanced deficit reduction, Feb. 19, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama listens to Jeffrey Brower and Dwayne Moore explain the machining of the axle components made for Caterpillar’s large mining trucks during a tour of the Linamar Corporation auto-parts plant in Arden, North Carolina, Feb. 13, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
If black girls can rock and black girls can travel then they can surely code, right? The statistics show otherwise. Women of color represent less than 3% of the people in technology fields.
But if it’s up to Kimberly Bryant, pretty soon tons of black (and brown) girls will be coding, which is the art of creating computer programs. She is the founder of Black Girls Code, a Bay Area organization whose mission is to increase the young women of color in the field of digital and computer technology.
Since launching in October, Black Girls Code is now teaching twelve young women how to code in scratch and there are immediate plans to expand the program.
Loop 21: Tell me about yourself! What is your background in coding? How did you end up in Silicon Valley?
Kimberly Bryant: I’m originally from Memphis, Tennessee and I am a career Electrical Engineer and Biotech/Pharma professional. My college minors were CS and Math but I took a more traditional engineering route out of college and spent the majority of my career in large industrial environments. A career move in biotech landed me in the valley where I slowly transitioned into the IT side of the business. I have been in the bay area for five and a half years since moving from the East.
Loop 21: How did you become interested in coding and engineering?
Kimberly Bryant: I personally became interested in engineering as a high school student with the encouragement of my guidance counselors given my strong performance in math and science and the demand for students in the engineering field. I really had no direct knowledge of what an engineer “did” or if I really wanted to pursue engineering as a career. I eventually studied electrical engineering at Vanderbilt University. It was difficult but I just determined to make it through my studies. We also had a pretty strong support network within the school, so that helped.
I think that is the key to getting more kids of color interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by providing them with exposure to the many career choices STEM allows.
Loop 21: Why don’t more minority students study stem more? Is it a cultural thing? Do we not have the resources in our schools?
Kimberly Bryant: I think more minority students neglect to pursue a career in STEM fields because of lack of exposure. They don’t generally see these fields as a career option and thus they don’t pursue a technical career path. This is why it is important to have more black tech founders and women tech founders in positions of influence so that minority students can find a role model with which they can identify. They have to see that this path is accessible to them in order to achieve it. Unfortunately there are not adequate resources solely through our school systems to accommodate this need.
Loop 21: Why did you create Black Girls Code and how did you start it?
Kimberly Bryant: The genesis of Black Girls Code was formed after I discovered in doing lots of networking in the valley that I was often one of a few women in the room and sometimes the only person of color at various tech networking events. I was doing a lot of networking to launch my own mobile health company. In the process is when I started to have conversations about the lack of females and minorities in tech.
As an engineer myself, I realized that the key to getting girls in general and especially girls of color interested in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) fields starts long before they reach high school or college. It is key to catch girls at that critical age in middle or elementary school when being a “geek” is no longer cool. Now Black Girls Code is my side passion project but I spend as much time on it as my job.
Loop 21: How did you come up with the name Black Girls Code?
Kimberly Bryant: Well I actually chose the name Black Girls Code to reflect the issue of focus for my organization which is specifically focused on helping “girls of color” to learn programming and technology. Our core target market are girls of color (African American, Latino, Native American). It is this demographic that is less than 1%-3% represented in technology and STEM fields. I wanted the “name” of my organization to reflect that and to be sure it was understood that this is our focus.
Actually there are MANY organizations which focus on girls, women, technology. And unfortunately MOST of them are very lacking in attracting girls or women of color to their programs. It is overwhelmingly white, Asian, and affluent. Our girls are being taught to have pride in who they are and in this case it starts with acknowledging and showing pride in this identity which is reflected in our name, our logo, the mentors, etc that we infuse into our program. This will never change.
When I was first introduced to computer programming, as a freshman in Electrical Engineering, Fortran and Pascal were the popular languages for newbies in computing and the Apple Macintosh was the new kid on the block. I remember being excited by the prospects, and looked forward to embarking on a rich and rewarding career after college.
But I also recall, as I pursued my studies, feeling culturally isolated: few of my classmates looked like me. While we shared similar aspirations and many good times, there’s much to be said for making any challenging journey with people of the same cultural background.
Much has changed since my college days, but there’s still a dearth of African-American women in science, technology, engineering and math professions, an absence that cannot be explained by, say, a lack of interest in these fields. Lack of access and lack of exposure to STEM topics are the likelier culprits.
By launching Black Girls Code, I hope to provide young and pre-teen girls of color opportunities to learn in-demand skills to at a time when they are naturally thinking about what they want to be when they grow up.
That, really, is the Black Girls Code mission: to introduce programming and technology to a new generation of coders, coders who will become builders of technological innovation and of their own futures.
Imagine the impact that these curious, creative minds could have on the world with the guidance and encouragement others take for granted.
(CNN) - Kimberly Bryant knows what it is to yearn and to succeed. The electrical engineer and mobile health technology entrepreneur works for pharmaceutical giant Novartis and is in the midst of launching her own company.
But she also knows what it’s like to be “the only one” – the only woman, the only African-American.
That’s why Bryant started Black Girls Code, a volunteer organization in San Francisco that’s dedicated to teaching young girls of color about computer programming and technology. She hopes they will be better prepared to experience that yearning and success instead of loneliness and isolation. By giving them an early intro into the world of computing, she hopes they’ll see it as a potential career path.
“I want to have that exposure before they go to college so that they can have [computer science professions] as a choice when they go to college,” Bryant said.
Bryant founded Black Girls Code in April and finished its first program this month. Fourteen girls from ages 6 to 13 spent six weeks learning about the basics of programming at the facilities of the 100% College Preparatory Institute in San Francisco. They also took trips to leading tech companies, including Facebook and Google. The girls used a computer language called Scratch to make a simple game, and to create graphics that illustrated each girl’s name and personality.
It’s a bit more kid friendly than a typical day at school.
“I really enjoyed being able to win candy AND learn to code,” Kai Morton, 12, wrote in a blog post about theKidsRuby code class. “I got so much candy that after a while the teacher asked somebody else to answer a question!”
In another blog post, 7-year-old Nailah Reynolds wrote, “The one thing I liked the least about my KidsRuby class was all that typing! What I liked the most was that I could learn to hack my homework!”
There has been so much interest in the program recently that Bryant changed her original plans to start the next session in March. Now, she’s gearing up for a session aimed at younger girls for January, followed by one for the older girls in March. And she’s keen to open branches of the program in other areas, including Atlanta, the East Coast and the Midwest.
Bryant said the name of her organization was chosen to emphasize its focus on girls of underrepresented minorities – particularly African-Americans, Latinas and Native Americans – and to distinguish it from other programs that tend to draw more white and Asian participants.
Black Girls Code participants Nailah Reynolds, 7, left, and Kai Morton, 12.
“One of the things that’s true about the computing talent pipeline in this country is that it’s really in jeopardy,” said Lucy Sanders, CEO of the National Center for Women in Technology. “With the degrees we’re granting now, we’re only going to graduate enough people to fill a third of the jobs … We’re not going to fill this talent pipeline if we only go to the places where we’ve always been traditionally looking.”
The field needs diverse voices to serve an increasingly diverse population, Sanders said.
“Computing is a creative endeavor, and when you have a diverse set of voices at the design table, you’re going to have people creating technology in different ways than if it was a homogeneous group,” Sanders said.
Lack of access to technology and computer science classes in schools and a lack of role models and mentors are among the barriers that make it difficult for women and people of color to enter – and stay in– computer and technology fields, according to the 2009 Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology report,“Obstacles and Solutions for Underrepresented Minorities in Technology.” The report said educators might overtly or subconsciously steer them away from the sciences as a career, and some experience feelings of isolation and exclusion caused by being the only woman, minority, or minority woman in the workplace.
Another factor is tokenism, in which the person feels more closely scrutinized or more harshly judged because they are “the only one” in the organization.
Black Girls Code aims to show girls who are used to being consumers of technology – on computers, tablets, mobile phones, iPods and gaming consoles – that they can have a role in creating it. But first, Bryant had to get some of them to throw out the outdated, stereotypical image of a computer programmer – a white, geeky man sitting alone, punching numbers into a keyboard in front of a dimly lit computer screen.
“That doesn’t resonate with most girls, especially elementary and middle school girls,” Bryant said. “We do a lot of group work and pairs programming projects because they need that connection and collaboration. So that helps break down the stereotypes of always being alone.”
RT @LipstickLibShow: Peggy Noonan: "This is bigger than Watergate" -but not bigger than your Iran-Contra Affair, is it Pegs? http://t.co/Jz…Still A MilitantNegro 3 hours ago
If black girls can rock and black girls can travel then they can surely code, right? The statistics show otherwise. Women of color represent less than 3% of the people in technology fields.
Jueseppi B.
