Our Future, Our Stories:
Reflections from AT&T Coding Your Future
During AT&T Coding Your Future, the 26 girls in the program – who immigrated to the United States for a better life – shared their stories. With guidance from storyteller-educators Lorna Czarnota and Karima Amin, the girls learned how powerful the ancient art of storytelling is, and how it crosses all cultures. The girls used the computer skills they learned in this program to tell their stories.
Sister code Thessy Annyra Christella Jossiane
Thanks to a generous gift from AT&T, WNY STEM Hub organized and presented this program with participation from our very kind presenting partners, several exemplar women who immigrated to the US and spoke to the girls about their experiences, and to our instructors Barbara Sherman, Ph.D, Chuck Arbutina, volunteer Sue Recoon, and storyteller/educators Karima Amin and Lorna Czarnota.
On the final day of the program, we were honored with a visit from Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, Assemblyman Sean Ryan, and SUNY Buffalo State President Dr. Katherine Conway Turner, who visited with the girls and looked at their work.
Learn more about AT&T Coding Your Future here:
http://www.dailypublic.com/articles/08172018/coding-our-future
http://news.wbfo.org/post/coding-class-wraps-local-new-american-students
http://news.wbfo.org/post/immigrant-refugee-teenage-girls-learn-computer-coding
To celebrate the end of the program and to encourage the girls to continue with self-study and exploration, the girls were presented with refurbished desktop computers, thanks to our partnership with MISSION Ignite, Powered by Computers for Children. Interns in MISSION Ignite’s STEPS Program, a pre-apprenticeship program of the Foundations for the Future Workforce Initiative, rebuilt and refurbished desktop computers.
