The New Bohemian Innovation Collaborative (NewBoCo) announced on Tuesday that the organization has been awarded a $100,000 grant from Collins Aerospace, an RTX company.
According to a press release from NewBoCo, the funding will support the nonprofit’s STEM education initiatives, including Computer Science Professional Development, CoderDojo, and “Girls Who Code” clubs.
“We appreciate the continued support from Collins that provides a foundation for our work inSTEM and Computer Science education,” said Samantha Dahlby, director of K–12 education at NewBoCo, in the release. “It is critical for education and industry to collaborate, and Collins has invested in our work where the two meet.”
Since partnering with fellow nonprofit Code.org in 2017, NewBoCo has offered free professional development workshops to train current educators to teach computer science. These efforts have also included additional curricula like Tiny Techies, Project GUTS, and artificial intelligence training for K–12 Educators.
To date, NewBoCo has trained over 2,100 PreK–12 teachers, reaching over 96,000 Iowa students, according to the release. The new funds will support the training of at least 100 additional Iowa teachers in computer science, who are expected to teach over 2,750 students in the first year alone.
The organization also hosts CoderDojo, a free event for kindergarteners to 5th-grade students, in the New Bohemia and Wellington Heights neighborhoods. In 2024, NewBoCo plans to explore further partnerships in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City to provide more CoderDojo programming during both the summer and the school year.
Additionally, the Girls Who Code clubs offer 3rd-5th and 6th-12th graders an opportunity to build their understanding of computer science. As stated in the release, NewBoCo aims to expand this program through partnerships with organizations like Main Street Economic Development to increase community connections. The program aims to serve 80 participants during the 2024-2025 school year.
