THIS CANADIAN TEENAGE CEO AIMS TO REACH AN ADDITIONAL 50,000 STUDENTS WITH FREE CODING EDUCATION
Ontario teen Arya Peruma was shocked to learn less than a third of female students choose to study higher education courses in subjects like coding, math and engineering and continue to be excluded from participating fully according to the United Nations. When Ontario teen Arya Peruma founded Coding for Young Minds Community Organization at the age of 14, she had one goal- to make coding and STEM education inclusive and accessible for all. Now with International Women's Day approaching, Arya is advocating even more vigorously for inclusivity, especially within girls.
"International Women's Day is all about celebrating and commemorating the efforts girls have made to create positive change within our communities but is also a time to reflect upon the underrepresentation girls face- especially in STEM fields," said Arya Peruma.
Arya Peruma's goal moving forward is to not only continue making her initiatives more accessible for Youth but also wants to continue to increase women's participation in STEM fields. Since its establishment in 2019, Arya's community initiative has reached over 5000 kids and they have been able to access free virtual coding education outside of school.
As a result, Arya Peruma is working to continuously bring new initiatives to the table- especially ones that will uplift and motivate girls to engage in coding and STEM. "The passion for coding and STEM is something that needs to be built into the foundation of one's learning which can only happen when you are young," said Arya Peruma. "This is why it is so crucial to set the foundation for passion which can be achieved when educators give exposure to STEM education for their students. I aim to reach an additional 50,000 students by the end of 2022, and this starts with hosting this workshop series for educators so they can bring accessible virtual & in-person coding education into their classrooms."
Arya is taking her Coding for Young Minds initiatives to the next step by hosting a free virtual workshop series for teachers, educators, mentors, or anyone who wants to learn how to integrate coding and STEM into their classrooms and environments. This will be a 3-part series presented from the Coding for Young Minds Coding Lab, highlighting to educators' types of projects that could be covered, ways to make the learning engaging and fun for students, and how to bring real-life context into the computer science and STEM topics for students.
Who puts the workshop series together to teach educators how to implement coding in their classroom? 15-year-old Founder, Arya Peruma prepares and delivers the material and curriculum for the coding workshop series.
Can educators implement the skills learned in the workshop to teach seven-year-olds and younger to code? Yes, the workshop skills can be implemented to teach a seven-year-old or younger to code. The skills learned in this workshop accommodate a variety of students and learners even those as young as seven years old. This workshop series will help educators teach younger audiences to learn and develop basic coding skills which can later be integrated to code more complex things and eventually lead to students engaging in activities like creating their own app.
What other initiatives does Coding for Young Minds offer?
Coding for Young Minds is a not-for-profit community organization based in Ontario, Canada and has conducted many initiatives since it was founded. Arya hosts free accessible virtual coding and STEM tutoring sessions for students as young as 7 years of age. Arya has also opened a Coding Lab in Mississauga which provides students with hands on experience with coding projects whilst accommodating a variety of learners. In addition, Arya has distributed STEM kits to students in the community, so students can receive hands on experience with robotics and STEM from home- especially amid the pandemic.
How can educators sign up for this free workshop series?
Educators can sign up for the series by visiting our website www.codingforyoungminds.com and registering for the events on the events page.
For further information: Media Contact: Anna Ranganathan, media@codingforyoungminds.com
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