Help Us Create and Inspire the Future Tech Leaders of LA!

College completion

College matriculation rates

District-wide graduation rates

Student education pipeline

Suspension and expulsion rates

Truancy rates in elementary and middle schools

Youth unemployment and underemployment

South LA

Westside

By creating an amazing opportunity for very underserved, low-income and at-risk youth in LA to have actual access to a tech companies day-to-day, while receiving a two hour coding and programming overview on the company's specific products, the Children's Lifesaving Foundation is creating a further avenue for the youth we serve to transform their lives. Computer Science careers are the fastest growing in the entire country, and African-American and Latino youth are still woefully behind in CS degree college graduation rates.According to Forbes, Computer Science is the high-paid college degree. And according to NSF.gov. less than 2.4% of college students graduate with a degree in it! 9 out of 10 K-12 schools don’t even offer computer-programming classes, according to Code.org.

And then there’s this, from Time.com’s own Keith Wagstaff: “If technology is the future, however, we are doing a woeful job of preparing our kids for it. Computer science is the only one of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields that has actually seen a decrease in student participation over the last 20 years, from 25% of high school students to only 19%, according to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics. Take a look at the curriculum of many classes labeled “computer science” today, and you’ll find not much has changed from the days of dial-up modems. Most cover the basics: Learning how to type and use Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. “ Not encouraging!

Here is how the CLF’s #CodingIsCool Workshops will continue to advance our overall mission of transforming the lives of LA’s at-risk youth, as well as these more specific goals of our Care through College Educational Program:

-Increase in the percentage of community college students completing a certificate, degree, or transfer-related program in six years AND College matriculation rates:

This is already the primary goal of the CLF’s Care through College Program, under which CIC will be operating. We are certain that CIC will only further, positively impact and greatly increase our students’ college graduation rates. ALL of our students in our Care trough College Program who have graduated high school are currently attending college (usually starting with SMC.) CIC will only maximize these metrics!

-Youth unemployment and underemployment: Computer Science and programming, being able to build and create a killer app or computer game- this is the future career for young adults, and will impact any job or career in a positive way. (And did you know that skilled high school coders and computer engineer interns have earned over $5,000 per month?) Coding is Cool will not help them get “a” job, but get “the” job of the future in LA, if they want it. CIC will offer them an unparalled and very competitive edge.

-District-wide graduation rates: Coding is Cool will exponentially amp up our students’ creativity, specific CS curiosity and STEM-based, academic skills.

Program Evaluation will be conducted by both our instructors, and in-house, and also using a two-fold approach: By anonymously surveying the students, and, in addition, asking their parents different questions, also anonymously. We intend to get an in-depth, honest portrayal of how well the #CodingisCool workshops will have resonated within the students’ lives and day-to-day activities. We will also be carefully assessing their math and science grades during this period, in particular, to note any upswing or surge in interest.

Internally, our staff will sit in on all Coding is Cool Workshops, and survey the students monthly as to overall participation and engagement. We will also be rating their specific skill levels with monthly exams, which will be built into the workshop curriculum. We will also be getting intensive feedback from the Guest Hosts at the tech companies we will be collaborating with, as well. Also, anecdotal research and how often the students express interest in reaching out and interning/keeping in touch with employees at these companies will be applied.

Money

Volunteers

Infrastructure (building/space/vehicles etc.)

Technical infrastructure (computers etc.)