Southern Region

Tucson - Sierra Vista - Nogales

Our Next Regional Meetup Is:

March 5th

CSTA-AZ Southern Region Community Events
CSTA-AZ Southern Region News
CS for ELL Students
Computer science is the fastest growing subject in the US, yet English learners are dramatically under-represented in these courses. CSforEL is a new, 4 year research project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, to attract, retain and engage English learners (EL) in AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) in Arizona, New Mexico and San Diego. We are currently seeking districts to participate in our first cohort for the 2020-21 school year. Click below for more information.
Read more...
CS Awesome Summer Virtual Sessions
CS Awesome is a new free curriculum from the Mobile CSP team for the AP CS A Java course that follows the 2019 College Board AP CSA units and learning objectives. We are applying to become an official provider for AP CSA in 2020. The curriculum is available for free on based on Barb Ericson's Java Review course on Runestone Academy.
 
The goal of the CS Awesome curriculum is to provide an interactive curriculum for students that uses frequent, small practice problems that allow students to incrementally build their Java programming skills. The curriculum is provided online through an e-book and includes many opportunities for creativity and collaboration with other students. The course was designed to engage all students and support students transitioning from a Computer Science Principles (CSP) course to CSA.
 
Click below for more information about summer opportunities. If you are a teacher transitioning from teaching AP CSP to AP CSA and/or will you be teaching AP CS A for the first time in 2019 or 2020, then we have scholarships available for you to attend our PD for FREE, in exchange for participating in our research project.
 
Read more...
CoderDojo MeetUps for Students
CoderDojo is a community of free, open, and local programming clubs for young students in middle-school & high school. CoderDojo Tucson will be relaunching on March 11th at SAACA Catalyst (in the Tucson Mall) and meeting consistently every 2nd and 4th Wednesday from 4-6pm until the summer. This is an opportunity for students to drop-in and learn programming concepts & work on projects in a supportive, inclusive environment. Free and open to tweens and teens!
 
For more information about these meetups, contact Dan Stormont - dan@tealk12.org
For more information about CoderDojo, visit their website: https://coderdojo.com/
Women in STEM Panel - February
We all face academic and personal challenges as we work towards achieving our academic and professional goals. One key to success is knowing when to reach out for help and where to look for help to overcome challenges and get through difficult times. This event will feature a panel of STEM professionals and students who will reflect on how they have navigated challenging academic and personal situations.
 
A light dinner will be provided and in order to ensure we have an adequate amount, please let us know you’re coming by filling out this short form: http://bit.ly/wise_panel
 
Where: Amphitheater High School - Panther Hall - 125 W Yavapai Rd 85705
When: 6pm-8pm
Who: Contact Erika Nacim - erikanacim@email.arizona.edu - with any questions
 
VEX Robotics Tournament
Sahuaro High School hosted a very successful VEX Robotics Tournament, featuring several teams from Tucson & the surrounding areas. KGUN9 News stopped by and reported on the event - click below to see their awesome news story from the VEX tournament
Read more...
Amazon Future Engineer + BootUp Elementary CS Initiative
BootUp Teams with Amazon Future Engineer to Bring Computer Science to More Than 1,000 Elementary Schools
 
 
Accepting Applications from Schools Districts to be Part of the Amazon Future Engineer + BootUp Elementary Computer Science Initiative
 
The Amazon Future Engineer sponsorship funds BootUp’s ongoing, onsite professional development to elementary teachers. BootUp prepares teachers to facilitate open-ended coding projects in the free platforms Scratch and ScratchJr. Teachers learn how to engage students to create and share interactive stories, animations, games, art, music, and more through problem-solving and other fundamental computer science practices. BootUp programs require no prior coding experience and include a free, interest-driven curricula with more than 70 classroom projects.
 
APPLY TODAY at www.afebootup.smapply.org.  
CSTA 2020 Scholarships Now Open!
Registration for the 2020 CSTA Annual Conference is open, and scholarships are being offered to support teachers who can not otherwise attend the CSTA conference due to funding limitations. These scholarships are available thanks to the generous support of our partners.
 
What to expect: The application is short, requiring 15–30 minutes to complete. It requests basic information about you and your teaching background, characteristics of the students you teach, and two short essay questions (less than 250 words each):
  • Why do you want to attend the conference?
  • How will attending the conference impact your teaching practice?
For more information visit the webpage here.
3D Printer Rental For Classroom
Xerocraft offers 12 3D Printers and Laptops that can be checked out by teachers for use in their classroom. The printers come with all the supplies they need to start printing. Xerocraft volunteers can also assist with setting up and troubleshooting the printers once they are in the classroom. Please this flyer for more information, or email 3dprinting@xerocraft.org
Computer Science Sessions at MEAD Conference
The Mathematics Educator Appreciation Day (MEAD) was created to fill a void in meaningful professional development for Tucson area mathematics teachers. This year, the MEAD conference includes a strand of sessions on Computational Thinking & Integrating Computer Science into classes or after-school clubs. Teacher from partner districts can attend the conference for free on January 25th. The sessions include:
  • A19 - Linear Functions & Geometric Artwork with Creative Coding (Grades 9-12)
  • A25 - Bringing Concepts to Life with Coding (Grades K-2)
  • B02 - Computer Science + Math = Joyous Learning (Grades 3-5)
  • B13 - Order of Operations & Code with Bootstrap Algebra (Grades 9-12)
  • C10 - Geometry & Measurement with 3D Design & Printing (Grades 9-12)
  • D10 - Teaching Girls to Code and Change the World (Grades 3-12)
Click Here for more information about the conference. Click Here to Register for the Conference & Pick Sessions. More information about each session below.
Read more...
Spring STEMAZing Workshops
The STEMAZing Project's mission is to positively impact the quality of STEM education for ALL students by empowering PreK to 12th grade educators to experience, share, improve, and implement STEM best practices. They have several upcoming workshops relevant to K12 Computer Science Educators:
More information about all workshops here: https://stemazing.org/register/. Click below to read more about each workshop
Read more...
Start a Girls Who Code Club

We are proud to partner with Girls Who Code to provide free, flexible and inclusive CS opportunities all across our community, and would love for your school to host a Club!

Girls Who Code Clubs  provide completely  FREE plug-and-play curriculum and resources for educators to encourage girls’ participation in STEM as they prepare for college and career. In each Club, 3rd-5th and 6th-12th grade girls build important life skills as they join a sisterhood of supportive peers and role models and learn how to use computer science to positively impact their community. Students also learn about inspiring female role models in tech to help increase female representation in our STEM programming. 

Read more...
Class Visit: Navy EOD (Bomb) Robots
LT. Jacqui Maxwell (jacqui.maxwell@navy.mil)  is coordinating educational events as part of Tucson Navy Week. They will be here during Rodeo Week in February. The Navy will have many groups available to visit with schools for whatever format works best for the schools (small group, meet with a school club relatable to the subject matter, etc.).  This group might be interesting for our clubs or classes: Explosive ordnance technicians  - active duty Sailors who’ll bring along 1-2 bomb disposal robots.
 
 
Read more...
Women in STEM Panels
Each month, the University of Arizona Women in Science & Engineering Program hosts a Women in STEM panel at different high schools in Tucson. See the attached flyer to see more information about this months meetup.
Read more...
Tucson VEX Scrimmage
On Tuesday November 26th, Sahuaro High School hosted a Tucson-area VEX Scrimmage. They hosted between 80 and 100 students, parents, teachers, and mentors to give all teams space to practice & support in preparation for upcoming competitions.
Read more...
CSTA-AZ Southern Region Meeting Notes
CSTA-Arizona Southern Region Resources