2BCF BLOG

We Won An Infy Maker Award!

We Won An Infy Maker Award!

You may remember us posting about our submission to the Infy Maker Awards back in November – the Infy Awards are put on by Infosys Foundation USA and are all about empowering the next generation of creative problem-solvers.

We submitted our program Coding Crew – which is ready-to-teach 10 lesson + one event course that teaches elementary, middle and high school students to code and design their own video games – and we WON!

Coding Crew was created by our Director of Community Learning Mya Stark and has been implemented in dozens of schools so far to great success and we are thrilled to now have received a $10,000 grant and the opportunity to participate in the Making CS Inclusive professional learning experience led by the leading education non-profit organization, Digital Promise. With their awards, the winning educators will be creating hands-on, experiential, and inclusive opportunities for students to learn computer science in personally meaningful ways, helping their students to understand how it’s relevant to the real world and to their lives.

 

Here’s a little video of Coding Crew in action

 

We are so proud of Mya and our whole team that made this now award winning course a reality!

More about Coding Crew

Our program uses a peer-based learning model that engages students in computer science concepts while guiding them through the process of co-designing a video game with their classmates. Older students take on the role of mentors, teaching younger peers to create video games using Scratch, a beginner-friendly coding platform. By training teachers to facilitate Coding Crew independently, they ensure the program’s sustainability, allowing it to reach new groups of students each semester and build a lasting foundation for STEM proficiency in low-income communities.

 

If you would like to bring Coding Crew to your school, check out this page and then email Mya@twobitcircus.org.

Fire Relief STEAM Camps

Fire Relief STEAM Camps

Dear 2BCF community,

Angelinos have really been hurting the past few weeks in the presence and aftermath of the horrific fires. In the midst of tremendous loss, evacuations and frequent wellness checks of our loved ones, we have been coming up with ways to support local children who have been impacted. Our first offering to our community is a series of free STEAM workshops put on by us, Two Bit Circus Foundation and the LA Department of Parks and Recreation to kids affected by these devastating LA fires. These programs are designed to bring art, STEAM learning, and healing to children and some support and relief to parents and caregivers who really need it right now.

As you know, it takes a village, and we need help to make this happen. Whether you can volunteer your time or contribute a donation, you’ll be playing a crucial role in so many lives right now.

There are two easy ways to help:

  1. Make a Donation
    Just $37 covers the cost for one child to attend one of our STEAM workshops for the day! Every dollar given goes directly to funding fire relief programs for kids.
  2. Volunteer Your Time
    Volunteers are essential to running our workshops smoothly! If you’d like to lend a hand, click here to connect with our team.

Thanks to your generosity, we were able to put on our first camp yesterday and it was so wonderful and we have more in the works and the more we raise, the better we can make them!

And while we’re working on these, we just want to say how proud we are of our team. Everyone banded together and worked overtime to put something together as soon as possible. When so many communities lose all of their schools, we know we need all hands on deck and that’s what we have here. We’re so grateful.

Check back here for updates on the Fire Relief Events that we’re putting on and thank you in advance for your donation support and your time. Together we will get through this!

Calling All Cardboard Visionaries!

Calling All Cardboard Visionaries!

It’s time to assemble😉! Would you like to share your artistry AND be entered to win an arduino gear programming kit?

An arduino is a microcontroller that can be used to learn programming and make creations come to life. We make our very own Arduino board called the CircusDuino and it could be yours!

To enter, simply upload photos to instagram of past or current cardboard builds, tag @imaginationfdn and @2bitfoundation and use the hashtag #CardboardChallenge2024 and you’ll be entered to win your very own CircusDuino!  Check out these photos from past Challenges and scroll to the end to see a photo of our CircusDuino. Winners will be announced next Friday! Happy building!

Congratulations - you've done it! See you soon.