Google’s igniteCS student volunteer program is kicking off another year of computer science (CS) volunteering! For the past three years, university students around the US with a passion for computer science have gone into local K12 schools, spreading the excitement to the next generation about where computer science can take them. We’ve seen over 2,000 students share their love for computer science and this year, we’re excited to welcome the next cohort from states like Florida, Ohio, and New Mexico. We’d love for you to join the Google student volunteer community too! You can register on the website and we’ll send you everything you need to get started.
Piero Castillo, a third year CS major at the University of Central Florida, and a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), has been volunteering through the student volunteers program at a local high school for the past year.
He developed a love for CS early into his college career and believes “CS is always relevant…technology is part of everything.” Sharing his knowledge and passion with younger students has created a lasting impact on Piero and the students he worked with. At the end of last school year, a high school student who was motivated by his experience with the igniteCS volunteers said that he “never realized how much CS could accomplish and wanted to keep learning.”
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Piero Castillo, CS major at the University of Central Florida |
Over at the University of Cincinnati, Mansi Patel, a leader on her school’s ACM Council on Women in Computing (ACM-W), began volunteering with Google’s CS student volunteer program when she realized there were issues engaging undergraduate women in the CS major.
She wanted to get students involved starting in high school, showing the girls that going to college and majoring in CS were real options for them. Mansi has seen “a huge difference in the students [she’s] taught” and continues to lead the way in bringing CS to the next generation.
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Mansi Patel, igniteCS volunteer at the University of Cincinnati |
We invite you to join this community of over 2,000 college volunteers to bring computer science to your community. Registered university students have access to lesson plans, materials, and support from Google to implement volunteer programming. Just gather a group of students at your college and register on the website. We’ll send you lesson plans and a free kit of materials to get started.
Happy volunteering!
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