Posted on by Joanna Goode
The tech industry is one of the few bright spots in a dim economy. So why aren’t we teaching kids the skills they need to participate in it?
By Keith Wagstaff, published July 16, 2012 in Time Magazine.
Kids work on Robot
Students at Gardena High School in Gardena, CA work on a robot in their Exploring Computer Science class. Photo by John Landa
Exploring Computer Science was recently featured in a Time Magazine — Techland article on computer science education in America. The article includes statements from ECS teachers Anthony Pagan and Elaine Blomeyer along with Jane Margolis.

Anthony Pagan has been teaching [Exploring Computer Science] curriculum for four years at Thomas Jefferson High School in South Central Los Angeles, a school with a student body that’s 90% Latino. When he first arrived, the school offered only one computer course which taught typing and how to use Microsoft Office.

“The word of mouth spread after the first year I taught the course and during the second year I was teaching four sections of Exploring Computer Science,” says Pagan. “It proves that, in the end, all that hard work is worth it. These kids can do it, whether or not English is their first language.”