Welcome, listeners, to another exciting episode of "What the EdTech". Today, we're diving into a topic that's not only close to my heart but also incredibly promising for the future of work in technology and education. We'll be exploring the inspiring worlds of Girls Who Code and Girls Who Game, two remarkable initiatives that are reshaping the landscape of both technology and public education here at Wichita Public Schools.
In a time when the digital age is transforming our society at a breathtaking pace, it's crucial to foster innovation and inclusion in the tech industry. And what better way to achieve this than by empowering young minds, especially girls, to unlock their potential as coders and gamers? In this episode, we'll delve into the stories of these young trailblazers, our guest Olivia Sumner who guides them, and the powerful impact they're making on our ever-evolving tech-driven world.
Welcome, listeners, to another exciting episode of "What the EdTech". Today, we're diving into a topic that's not only close to my heart but also incredibly promising for the future of work in technology and education. We'll be exploring the inspiring worlds of Girls Who Code and Girls Who Game, two remarkable initiatives that are reshaping the landscape of both technology and public education here at Wichita Public Schools.
In a time when the digital age is transforming our society at a breathtaking pace, it's crucial to foster innovation and inclusion in the tech industry. And what better way to achieve this than by empowering young minds, especially girls, to unlock their potential as coders and gamers? In this episode, we'll delve into the stories of these young trailblazers, our guest Olivia Sumner who guides them, and the powerful impact they're making on our ever-evolving tech-driven world.
Welcome, everybody to our September edition of what the EdTech.
Unknown:school year, Rob,
Rob Dickson:it is it is I'm so glad to be back. This is such an amazing time, I believe in public education.
Dyane Smokorowski:I agree. You know, this is the first year that I'm seeing teachers go from needing a digital diet to Okay, let's play and make some real magic happen. So I am very excited and optimistic for this school year.
Rob Dickson:We have an amazing guest today.
Dyane Smokorowski:I know I've been looking at the notes. And I'm like, this is going to be epic, because this educator is not only a great teacher leader, but she's changing the lives of many students across the district.
Rob Dickson:Yep. And we have a special surprise that she's going to tell us today. So my friend Olivia Sumner is our guest today. She's from education, Imagine Academy. Olivia wants you to say hi to everyone.
Olivia Sumner:Yes, hi, I'm so excited to be here in the presence of greatness with the two of you. So thank you for having me.
Dyane Smokorowski:We're excited to have you and Olivia, what is your one big hope for this school year.
Olivia Sumner:I, oh, my goodness, one hope for the school year. But there's so many smoothie
Dyane Smokorowski:more than one. But what's one that's resonating to today,
Olivia Sumner:I want to see more girls in STEM. And throughout the district, we've been seeing that. And now we're branching out into the middle school realm with Girls Who Code. And so I just I just want to continue to see that flourish and thrive.
Rob Dickson:So let's talk about those things. Thinking about girls who game and Girls Who Code tell us some history of both of those.
Olivia Sumner:Yeah, so Girls Who Code is a program that's all about getting girls coding, whether it's on the computer with robots, or even fully offline, and just engaging with one another building that sisterhood of girls in STEM. And the whole goal is to increase the number of women who end up in STEM fields, because only about 28% of women are in the STEM fields currently. And of those 28% Only 11 Are women of color. So we really want to reach those girls that maybe don't have those opportunities, or just because of gender stereotypes are limited, and what they believe they can do in those areas. And so coding really focuses on the actual code side and building a sisterhood. Whereas girls who game branches out a little bit more, and focuses on the eSports side with a strong focus on being changemakers through Minecraft, which is a really exciting way to pull the girls in.
Rob Dickson:So Olivia, how many schools do we do Girls Who Code in?
Olivia Sumner:Oh, my goodness. Um, so last year, we had 21 clubs at the elementary level. This year, we have about that many at the elementary level. And we've branched out to middle. And I don't have a final number for you on middle yet, because I'm still waiting on some of those teachers to get back to me. But I am hopeful that it will be a majority of our middle school buildings, because that's when it's really pivotal that we get those girls involved in STEM by eighth grade is when we see that drop off happen. And so we know that age group is vital.
Rob Dickson:Well, I can tell you, Olivia, I have three daughters all in their 20s Now, and even as their dad is a leader in tech, I cannot influence my kids to take on a tech responsibility as far as going on to some technical field, I think, you know, but I think it's amazing to see what you're doing. Where do you see these girls? As we focus on elementary? Do you see us changing that stereotype? Do you see it within the club itself?
Olivia Sumner:Definitely do these girls build their confidence, not even just with STEM you're talking about their entire being changes, and they flourish in ways that they didn't know were possible. Because they've built this thing up inside of themselves that society has maybe told them to squash a little bit. And so it's really amazing to watch them change as entire people, not just Instagram or just coding or any of those things. They are really learning. They're becoming their true selves, because they're learning that they can they have that permission in the safe space.
Dyane Smokorowski:So you're saying that it's just as much leadership skills as it is learning how to do computer science?
Olivia Sumner:Oh, yes, it goes so far beyond that. In fact, there's a whole curriculum inside of Girls Who Code that keeps you off the computer. It's fully unplugged. It's all about just getting the girls together and problem solving outside of the code. So
Dyane Smokorowski:tell me an anecdote a story where you've seen the student really does come into her own Through this experience,
Olivia Sumner:well, we, oh gosh, every year, every year, there's at least one or two girls that I'm like, Oh, I don't know how to let you go. But I'm gonna go all the way back to like pre COVID, my first year of teaching, brought girls who code in we were the first first club in the district at Cloud Elementary. And I had a selective mute student. And she, for many reasons, chose not to speak often. And so when we started, we always start with unplugged activities and sister had building. And instead, should we started her on the computer. And she actually started with coding. And we reversed it for her, where she built herself up to those sisterhood activities. And by the end of the year, and I'm getting goosebumps, because Oh, my heart. By the end of the year, she was leading those activities, and she was going around and actually recruiting the second graders that would be third grade to come into our group. And yeah, she's wonderful seven
Unknown:or seven year old, a very
Olivia Sumner:well, she was a fourth grader, but she was a big deal. Yes. Oh, yes. Regardless of age,
Rob Dickson:so let's step on to gaming. Like I know, we started an Esports program couple years ago, when I think about girls who game what kind of skills are these girls building in that program? So what's unique
Olivia Sumner:about girls who game is it pulls in the sustainable development goals from the UN. And we actually compete internationally. Prior to this year, we stayed in level one and level two cohorts mean, we would do the build challenge for the whole semester. And we would compete through just our recordings of what we had built. It's always an issue relating to the SDGs. Were like, if we're dealing with sustainability, how can we rebuild Wichita to make it more sustainable. And so that was one of our challenges. This year, we get to compete in the eSports arena, at the end of each semester, and they give us a certain amount of time. And we are live in the world building with people from all over the world. And that one's just a real challenge outside of the Sustainable Development Goal, option. And we're really excited to get into the eSports arena a little bit further. But that's not the best part to me about girls who game the best part is the change maker portion. Don't get me wrong, they love to build. But these girls are learning about very real issues, and in our in our world and our community and how they can fix them. So how do they get to take control of these issues, and make a better world for themselves and future generations?
Rob Dickson:I love those sustainable development goals.
Dyane Smokorowski:Agreed? There's there is something for every single content area when you're using the SDGs in the classroom. So that being said, how have you transitioned as a practitioner, by having these experiences with girls game and Girls Who Code.
Olivia Sumner:So when I first started Girls Who Code I really thought it was just going to be a fun hobby. That's just a fun club to do with the kids, get them engaged, and hopefully get more girls into STEM in the long run. But especially when COVID hit and everything went fully virtual, and I started girls who game I had a mentor named Mei Li and she's very big in the project based learning realm and turning that into the virtual the virtual side of things. And she has PBL werkstoffe work is her organization. It was through working with her that I learned how hands on and life changing education truly can be like outside of anything I had ever imagined. And so it's through girls who game and Girls Who Code I have been able to build myself as an educator to change the way that I teach to be very focused on those sustainable development goals. And on making sure my students are becoming changemakers not just they're not just learning how to read and write or, you know, do their multiplication and all the things or even how to code they are learning how to work together to make the world a better, more peaceful place.
Dyane Smokorowski:That's that's a game changer in all perspectives, right? And for our listeners who are not familiar with the Sustainable Development Goals, these are things such as life on land, how do we build a sustainable environment for animals to be doing well, education for every person, especially girls, it's elements around clean water, just all the things of those big wicked problems that this world faces, that there's this plan all across the world of moving towards a more sustainable planet. That's what it's all about. And that you are finding that way to team not only a hobby but a career path and problem solving real world big issues. No doubt that's changing your heart.
Olivia Sumner:It's it's been amazing. Absolutely amazing. And it's because of the kids. It's not me like it's these kids, their ideas. They grow me, you know what I mean? Like they are, what they are what caused me to grow. So it's been an awesome experience.
Rob Dickson:That's amazing. And we have some amazing news from education. Imagine Academy. Olivia, you want to share those news that we found out today?
Olivia Sumner:Yeah. So we are officially a Microsoft showcase School, which is, what is it? Rob, one of 30 in the whole country is
Rob Dickson:30. In the United States. There are several throughout the world. And this is our third year getting it? I believe that it
Olivia Sumner:is yes. And we have nine is it nine or 11? Was 911. I think it's a nine. Mike assign experts.
Rob Dickson:Yeah, Microsoft Innovative Educator expert. So I think it's such an amazing program that we have ei Academy. And, you know, it's it's great to have Amanda Young, leading that program. And I think people like you, Olivia, and the rest of the staff there. Yeah, Academy do amazing work to integrate technology for students to have a great experience, both in a virtual world and in a face to face. Because if if you haven't experienced CIA is not totally virtual, right? You want to kind of explain what that day looks like? Yes, we
Olivia Sumner:have wonderful in person learning opportunities for our families that would like to get some of that socialization and get some more hands on learning. So every Thursday morning, we have kindergarten through eighth grade in the building, and fourth grade are actually doing STEM based projects, kind of similar to what we talked about, with girls who game and the Sustainable Development Goals. But we are fully offline unless we're doing research during that time this year, every quarter, we are researching a different natural disaster. And the students will have choice within those natural disasters and actually have people from the community come in and talk. They will do experiments based on those disasters, and then figure out how humans can both prevent them, and how they can help make a difference with repairing when those disasters do inevitably happen. And so we're pulling in those goals. And just again, figure out ways to make it real to our students and how they can make a difference.
Rob Dickson:That's awesome smoke.
Dyane Smokorowski:You know what? I think Olivia set the stage when she said, you know that her heart and everything else is because of the kids and I think that's exactly what happens at EIA every single day. Yeah. So that being said, Rob, I think we just give her a cyber high five. There it is. And we'll see you all this time on what
Rob Dickson:awesome thanks, everyone.
Olivia Sumner:Bye. Thank you.