Infosys Foundation USA to Host Free Computer Science Training for Over 800 Public School Teachers in Summer 2018

PALO ALTO, California, December 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Inspired by the success of past funding initiatives to train thousands of public school teachers, Infosys Foundation USA will host the Pathfinders Summer Institute 2018, a national convening for K-12 teacher education in Computer Science and Making.

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#InfyPathfinders will be an intensive week of professional development to be held at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) from July 15-20, 2018. Over 800 teachers from across the United States will convene on the IUB campus for high-quality, hands-on training for K-12 grade level Computer Science (CS) and Maker education.

Interested teachers and school administrators can find out more and register their interest at: infy.com/Pathfinders

"An inspired teacher will be one of the most influential guides for children to discover their own unique paths. And a teacher will influence hundreds, if not thousands, of children over the course of her or his teaching career," said Kaustav Mitra, Chairperson of Infosys Foundation USA. "We are honored to host the Pathfinders Summer Institute to both celebrate teachers and to get them the resources they need to be even more effective in helping students navigate this world."

"As Indiana's flagship public university, we embrace the challenge of employing our resources to inspire life-long learning and excellence in teaching" said Laurie Burns McRobbie, First Lady, Indiana University. "We are delighted to offer the IUB campus as a venue for Infosys Foundation USA's inaugural Pathfinders Summer Institute, which will enable over 800 teachers to benefit from superior professional development in Computer Science and Maker education. The teachers will gain valuable insights and tools that they can take back to classrooms in both Indiana and across the nation."

All tuition, travel, accommodation and food expenses for teacher participants will be paid. Funds from Infosys Foundation USA will be matched by school districts and by individual donations through education crowdfunding leader DonorsChoose.org in order to make it possible for teachers to attend the Pathfinders Summer Institute at no cost.

"We're deeply grateful to work with Infosys Foundation USA for the third consecutive year to help teachers gain the necessary skills to deliver a 21st century education to their students," said Charles Best, founder of DonorsChoose.org. "It's been inspiring to see a community of citizen donors come alongside the Foundation to support these bold teachers, and Computer Science and Maker education across the nation."

Participating curricular partners include ATLAS Institute, Beauty and Joy of Computing, Bootstrap, Code/Interactive, Exploring Computer Science, KCI Computer Science Crash Course, KISS Institute for Practical Robotics, Mobile CS Principles, Nextech, Project GUTS CS in Science, Stanford Logic Group, Tapestry Workshop, and UTeach CS Principles. In addition to teachers, school counselors will also attend to receive training from NCWIT's Counselors for Computing (C4C) program on how to better support all students in exploring CS education and careers.

"High-quality professional development is something all teachers need, along with the opportunity to build community across regions, curricula and subject areas," said Emmanuel Schanzer, Bootstrap Program Director. "Bootstrap is delighted to offer training on several of our curricula at the Pathfinders Summer Institute - especially our new Data Science module, which offers rigorous data analysis in an introductory programming module that can be integrated into multiple subject areas. We invite CS, Statistics, Business and Social Studies teachers who want to use real data and lightweight programming to join us in Bloomington."

Formal applications for Infosys Foundation USA Pathfinders Summer Institute 2018 will open in January 2018. All K-12 public school teachers are welcome to apply. Special consideration will be given to high-needs schools, teachers from under-represented communities, those new to teaching CS and Making, and districts demonstrating significant commitment to these subjects.

About Infosys Foundation USA 
Infosys Foundation USA is focused on bridging the digital divide in America by supporting high-quality Computer Science education and coding skills with a particular focus on underrepresented communities. It aims to give children and young adults the skills they need to become creators, not just consumers, of technology. In pursuit of this mission, the Foundation has partnered with internationally acclaimed non-profits and institutions like Code.org, Computer Science Teachers Association, DonorsChoose.org, and the CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, Infosys Foundation USA committed a million dollars to the Infy Maker Awards to inspire makers across the U.S. to demonstrate creative excellence in making projects with genuine impact. Learn more at http://www.infosys.org/usa/, follow on Twitter @InfyFoundation or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/InfosysFoundationUSA

©2017 Infosys Foundation USA

SOURCE Infosys