UCLA Community School, in collaboration with Center X’s Exploring Computer Science initiative, has been selected to receive a 2014 Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Award. The school, which serves the Koreatown/Pico-Union community of Los Angeles, is receiving a $25,000 award from Google to start the Bruin Bits & Bytes Program, which will provide inner-city students — focusing on girls and underrepresented minority groups in particular — with the computer science knowledge needed to compete for college and careers in the 21st century.
Google RISE Awards are part of the Google for Education initiative and are designed to support organizations that promote access to computer science education and give students aged 7-18 the opportunity to become creators — and not just consumers — of tomorrow’s technological innovations.
“UCLA Community School is committed to developing students as self-directed, passionate learners who actively and critically engage in the world,” said Karen Hunter Quartz, director of research at the school and Center X in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. “We are delighted to be working with Google to support these competencies in computer science.”
The Bruin Bits & Bytes Program will support a range of learning opportunities, including computer science courses, a student leadership program, internships, and field trips, that are geared toward recruiting, fostering, mentoring, and providing opportunities for future computer scientists and technology innovators. The proposed program’s top priority is to leverage resources at the university to both expand the current computer science opportunities at UCLA Community School, and to serve as a mentor school for other Los Angeles public schools and communities.
