Hadi Partovi's (Founder of Code.Org) Open Letter for CSED Week 2017

 

A Letter From Hadi Partovi, Founder of Code.Org, to kick off Computer Science Education Week 2017:



On the 4th anniversary of the #HourOfCode, we’re celebrating record momentum for computer science. We have big announcements to share and a new video to inspire students!



The big event

Monday, the top women in tech – Melinda Gates, Peggy Johnson, Sheryl Sandberg, and Susan Wojcicki – joined Code.org president Alice Steinglass and CSTA lead Deborah Seehorn to kick off CS Education Week. 



Almost 200 governments, school districts, and nonprofits pledge to expand CS for millions of students, globally:


Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Montana, and Pennsylvania, all announced plans to expand CS in schools, joined by 76 U.S. school districts and 80 nonprofits. Internationally, 20 nonprofits and entire countries pledged to expand CS programs for 20,000 teachers and over 2 million students. Read (and share) the news here.



"Anything worth doing doesn't come easy."

Watch basketball champ Stephen Curry try the Hour of Code!

Check it out on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. 



He’s joining Stacy Hinojosa (StacyPlays), Sheryl Sandberg, Russell Wilson, Susan Wojcicki, and myself to inspire kids. When you do your Hour of Code, post your creation to get a personal video chat with one of us!



Make a simple app in one hour 

Check out Code.org’s new App Lab activity.  

AppLab, our coding tool for middle and high school, is now open for anyone to build JavaScript apps. If you’re ready to go beyond block-based coding, the new Hour of Code tutorial helps you design a “choose your adventure” app in JavaScript or blocks. Making your own web app has never been easier.



10 million girls have accounts on Code.org!

This milestone is personal for me. If only 1% of the girls actively learning on Code.org continued past high school, they’d outnumber the gender gap in university CS!   



I’m immensely proud of all the students – boys and girls – who have shown that anybody can learn. We can’t wait to see what you create.



What matters most comes after the Hour of Code

From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, every country is participating in the Hour of Code, and together we’ll pass 500 million “hours served” to celebrate the 4th anniversary of this incredible campaign.



But one hour is only the beginning. Go beyond an Hour of Code and pledge to bring computer science to your school. 



The global movement continues to accelerate, thanks to you and your support for our shared vision that every student in every school deserves the opportunity to learn computer science.  



I’m forever humbled and grateful for your support.



Hadi Partovi

Founder, Code.org