{CodeYourCity}
A Technology Odyssey
Each summer the Gordon Family Foundation hosts thirty 8th through 12th-grade students who participate in a “Technology Odyssey” that introduces them to many branches of cutting edge technology.
Students visit local companies, universities and meet with role model leaders from business, education, and community who share similar backgrounds and challenges with the students. They participate in group projects, coding, and three-day internships.
{CODEDenver}
{CODEOrlando}
About {CodeDenver}
{CODEDenver} Class of 2022
The inaugural 2022 {CodeDenver} program was a resounding success. In partnership with Metropolitan State University (MSU)nand Colorado School of Mines, 22 local students spent four weeks immersed in science, technology, engineering and math and learned about technology happening all around them in the Denver area.
Based at the MSU downtown engineering campus, which is a stones throw from the Denver Nuggets arena, the 7th though 10th grade students, who represent those underrepresented in STEM fields, visited an entire spectrum of cutting edge technology. They visited Liberty Gas and Oil where they learned about the geology, petrochemical engineering and equipment used in the gas and oil industry.
At Colorado School of Mines, the students were exposed to geophysics through the petroleum engineering program. They toured the geology museum that houses some of the most rare stones and minerals found in Colorado.
They spent an afternoon learning to code, and they capped their experience off with a trip to the Edgar Mine, a vintage gold and mineral mine in the foothills of the Rockies, that is now a teaching mine.
At Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU), the students worked with the engineering department to learn about circuitry. They soldered their own flashlights!
They also learned to program Sphero robots and spent a day sending them on races around the halls of the engineering building.
They built bridges and created slime substances tough enough to stand on in an introduction to industrial engineering. And they learned about manufacturing processes in a heated battle to create a manufacturing line that precisely lobbed ping pong balls on a target.
They visited Lockheed Martin where they learned about the latest in space exploration and satellite technology. They learned that technology drives commercial flying on a trip to the Denver airport.
They went behind the scenes to see emergency equipment, control rooms and operations. On the tarmac, they got to witness takeoffs and landings up close.
The program culminated with a trip to the Denver Nuggets arena, where the students presented the results of their projects and visits to their families, community members and educators. Aaron presented each student with a $1000 scholarship to be used toward their post-secondary education.
The students are staying connected to one another and many of them will be participating in upcoming holiday events and the upcoming Gordon Family Giving Foundation night at the Nuggets January 15th game against the Orlando Magic.
These students had the opportunity to experience many different aspects of technology right in their own community. It helps them understand how vast the fields of STEM can be, and how much it powers their life, education and world around them. It inspires them to consider and prepare for STEM fields as they complete high school.
We are looking forward to 2023 with MSU and Colorado School of Mines in partnership with us again!
About {CodeOrlando}
Founded in 1999, 55 kids participated in the inaugural {CodeOrlando}, our flagship program, in partnership with the University of Central Florida for local high schools students, providing a fun and learning-filled tech immersion experience.
Despite Covid limitations on our visits to local tech organizations, the students were able to experience a NASA launch, an eye-opening trip to the Orlando Emergency Management facility, and they were introduced to luminaries from across the US who are blazing trails for underrepresented groups in technology fields.
