Several of our members recently attended the CSTA conference and Chapter Leadership Summit in Chicago from July 13th - 17th, 2022.
The main conference featured many incredible sessions related to computer science, including ways to integrate CS into existing elementary curricula, support new CS teachers, increase equity, introduce cybersecurity concepts, and provide opportunities for student leadership in and out of the classroom. A variety of computer science curriculum partners, software platforms, and physical computing vendors were in the exhibit hall all weekend sharing their ideas with us and giving out some awesome swag!
CT CSTA members were full participants in the conference, not just spectators! Two of our members were honored at a special awards ceremony on Friday night. Nicholas Bousquet from Plainfield and Michelle Cislo from Wallingford received the CSTA / Infosys Foundation USA CS Teaching Excellence Award and an honorable mention, respectively. Christopher Kerr, CT CSTA president, shared his experience with other CSTA chapter leaders in a session at the Chapter Leadership Summit and participated in a panel discussion about CS Honor Societies during the main conference. Jacqueline Corricelli, CT CSTA Vice President, also presented about her work in West Hartford using data to increase equity in computer science classrooms. You can view the results of her study here.
The conference wasn’t all work, though! We met lots of other amazing CS teachers from around the country and enjoyed all that Chicago has to offer. From a walk to Millennium Park to see the iconic Bean, to authentic deep dish pizza, to an exciting evening at the Museum of Science and Industry, we made so many amazing memories!
We are thrilled to be able to share our learning and experiences from the conference with you over the course of this year and hope to see many of you online and in person soon! We would love to grow our membership this year and one of the best ways to do that is for our members to bring a friend or colleague along with them. Please keep an eye on your inbox in the weeks to come for a bulletin with all the details of this year's meetings, our focus for the year, and information about how we can support you.