Students Get Scholarships to Summer STEM Camps

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 06/23/20

Two companies are working together to help students in Washington, D.C. attend virtual technology camps. iD Tech, which runs STEM camps all over the country for young people, is getting support from Salesforce to launch "Coding Our Future," which will enable 150 low-income students in the district to participate in the camps. They'll take courses through Trailhead, Salesforce's online learning platform, on Java, C++, 3D game design, YouTube animation, Python and machine learning.

The goal, according to the two companies, is to expose underrepresented minorities to the world of STEM as a field of professional pursuit. The scholarship students will receive laptops and home internet access. The initiative will also get help from other organizations, including the Black Student Fund, Black Girls Code, DMV National Society of Black Engineers, Jr. chapter and Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science.

"All students should have access to a quality STEM education," said Pete Ingram-Cauchi, CEO of iD Tech, in a statement. "With the support of Salesforce, we are confident we can help give students the resources to explore a career in STEM, and help grow the talent pipeline for the industry."

"As we build the economy of the future, it is imperative we include the students of today," added Leah McGowen-Hare, the vice president in charge of the Trailblazer community and evangelism. "Salesforce is committed to partnering with organizations like iD Tech to empower students of all backgrounds to embark on meaningful careers in STEM."

The iD Tech Virtual Tech Camps program will take place July 27-August 14, 2020. Students in grades 5-12 are encouraged to apply here before Jun. 30, 2020.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • futuristic AI interface with glowing data streams and abstract neural network patterns

    OpenAI Launches Its Largest AI Model Yet

    OpenAI has introduced GPT-4.5, its largest AI model to date, code-named Orion. The model, trained with more computing power and data than any previous OpenAI release, is available as a research preview to select users.

  • Slooh Earth Science Quests

    New Slooh Earth Science Curriculum Features Live Orbital Satellite Feeds

    Robotic telescope platform and astronomy education provider Slooh has launched a new NGSS-aligned Earth Science curriculum for grades 5-9 designed for Earth science and career and technical education IT courses.

  • A geometric pattern of open Chromebook computers with bold outlines, subtle shading, and soft gradients, spaced evenly with vibrant green and blue accents on a neutral background.

    Challenges and Opportunities Ahead for the 'Great Chromebook Refresh'

    During the pandemic, the education community scrambled to provide students with laptops to promote online learning equity and mitigate learning loss. Today, those devices are approaching the end of their useful lives — and a "great Chromebook refresh" has been predicted as schools seek to replace them with newer models.  

  • stacks of glowing digital documents with circuit patterns and data streams

    Mistral AI Intros Advanced AI-Powered OCR

    French AI startup Mistral AI has announced Mistral OCR, an advanced optical character recognition (OCR) API designed to convert printed and scanned documents into digital files with "unprecedented accuracy."