The Charlottesville Computer Science Community (CCSC) is organized by:
- Briana Morrison, the Director of the CompEdCenter for Innovation in Computing Education and Outreach in the Computer Science Department at UVA. Dr. Morrison is a CS education researcher and professor whose goal is to make learning programming more accessible to all.
- Eric Bredder, a PhD student at the in the School of Education at the University of Virginia with a focus on CS and STEM education. He is an educator that has experience teaching technology and engineering at middle school, high school, and community college levels.
- Jennie Chiu, an Associate Professor in the School of Education at UVA. Dr. Chiu researches how to integrate computational thinking into science teaching and has led professional development (PD) with K-8 educators toward that end.
- Kala Somerville, the Executive Director of C4K.
- Kim Wilkens, the founder of Tech-Girls and Charlottesville Women in Tech. Dr. Wilkens has worked for over two decades to bring CS into both school and out-of-school settings for historically marginalized youth.
- Tonya Coffey, the Coordinator of Science and Innovation at Charlottesville City Schools. Her passion for computer science education is rooted in the belief that computational thinking can equip students with the critical thinking skills they need to succeed in any field. Dr. Coffey's extensive collaboration with CodeVA has been instrumental in making high-quality CS programs accessible to ALL students in Virginia.
Founding members: Luther Tychnoveich, Kim Wilkens, Jennie Chiu, Kala Somerville, Nigel Standish
Through this partnership we:
- Planted the seeds for the Buford Lab School initiative.
- Help organize and run the annual CS Institute - a free professional development opportunity for K-12 educators with a mission to 1) Demystify computer science; 2) Build a regional computer science education community; 3) Increase access to CS for all students.
- Make #CSForAll Commitments to provide professional learning experiences and ongoing support K-8 teachers to help them infuse CS into their curriculum.
- Go after grant funding to support our mission. We received our first grant at the beginning of 2020 (City schools to receive state grants for computer science) and have other grants in process.
- Support cohorts of CS K-8 educators throughout the school year. The 2019 cohort presented at the Virginia Society of Technology Educators (VSTE) Conference.
- Collaborate with other organizations and initiatives such as the Global Center for Equitable Computer Science Education.
- Finalist for the 2023 and 2020 CBIC Partnership of Year the award
