Join us for an inspiring session where college students will share their personal journeys from high school to college, reflecting on the experiences, challenges, and opportunities that shaped their pathways in computer science and related fields. Students will also discuss what they feel is missing in computer science education and what they wish they had experienced to better prepare them for their future. Following the presentations, participants will engage in an interactive panel and Q&A to gain authentic student perspectives, explore pathways in computing, and spark ideas for creating stronger and more meaningful computer science learning experiences.
In the summer of 2025, 4 teachers from Salinas Union High School District's La Paz Middle School started a grassroots, Computer Science program, with the aim of integrating Computational Thinking Practices and physical computing skills into their already busy curricula, with no prior experience, no CS background, no set curriculum, and very little funding. How did we do it? Why did we do it? Join us for a journey into the rationale for teacher-led CS instruction, the skills developed in both our teachers and our students in the past year, tips for any teachers who would follow in our footsteps, and a bounty of resources, templates, lesson plan ideas and tools developed by teachers, for teachers, already tested in our classrooms, to make your first year journey a little less bumpy than ours!Bui
Many districts are asked to implement new initiatives, computer science, AI, and intervention systems, often as separate efforts. But what if the most impactful work is not adding something new, but building coherent systems that already support the kind of thinking these initiatives require?
In this session, a team of instructional coaches and a district leader will share their journey of developing aligned systems for teacher support, data-driven instruction, and Tier 2 intervention. Presenters will demonstrate how core practices, unpacking standards, using data to guide instruction, and building responsive systems, mirror the structured thinking and problem-solving central to computer science.
Participants will explore how strong instructional systems can serve as a foundation for integrating emerging priorities like computer science and AI without overwhelming teachers or adding disconnected initiatives.
The Plugging into Power initiative collaborates with families and community partners to co-design resources with and for parents to advocate for equitable CS and AI education. In December 2025, we released a free parent advocacy guide (pluggingintopower.org) available in English, Spanish, and accessible HTML version, and we are currently developing a parent workshop. In this session, members from the Plugging into Power research-practice partnership and the CAL-MSCS FACEinSTEM leadership team will share key principles and lessons learned that guide how we approach any Family and Community Engagement (FACE) initiative. You will walk away with research-based and practical frameworks, hear about trust-building and value-mapping activities, and learn what common challenges and misconceptions we’ve encountered as we work towards empowering parents, families, and community members as key stakeholders in the movement to bring CS to all California students.
