TAF TSP-CS Program
Volunteer with our TSP program or make a donation that counts.
What is the TSP?
The TAF Teacher Scientist Partnership – Computer Science (TSP-CS) provides opportunities for science and technology professionals to volunteer their time and expertise to supplement science and technology exposure for middle and high school students. It focuses on four core areas of competency – science, engineering, design, and computer science.
TSP’s mission directly aligns with TAF’s mission and states that every child, regardless of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, or family background should have the opportunity to be exposed to, and learn how to master computer technology including writing software.
The Beginning: TSP-CS (1.0)
Established by TAF in 2011, the TSP-CS (1.0) focus area first started with eight software engineers from Microsoft, and continued until 2014. The volunteer participants developed a detailed computer science curriculum for students at several different grade levels and helped teachers incorporate computer science into the then TAF Academy curriculum.
TAF Academy, a 6th-12th grade STEM school founded by nonprofit TAF in 2008, was the only school in Washington State to receive the School of Distinction Award five years in a row. Additionally, the school boasted a 95% on-time graduation rate, and of those, 100% of graduates were accepted into college. Through the TSP program, TAF won the Partnering for Excellence Award from Ashoka Changemakers and Carnegie Corporation.
Upgraded, and Better: TSP-CS (2.0)
The latest incarnation of TSP, coined TSP-CS 2.0, was envisioned through collaboration between between Trish Millines Dziko, Co-founder and Executive Director of TAF, and Ian Freed, former Amazon.com Vice President of Devices and 30-year technology business veteran. TSP-CS 2.0 aims to take TSP-CS 1.0 a step further by incorporating dozens, hundreds, and eventually thousands of technology industry experts to help not only TAF’s newly expanded school TAF@Saghalie in King County, but ultimately any school that shares TAF’s vision.
TSP-CS 2.0 will take the best from earlier curriculum, and consider supplementing the curriculum with established, publicly available CS teaching platforms aimed at middle and high school students.
The emphasis of the TSP program will be to teach students how to write software in the context of their existing middle and high school curriculum. For example, students learning how to collect data in science or social studies may first learn how to use spreadsheets in 6th grade, but through the TSP-CS program, they can learn and eventually master how to write software to store and manipulate data using arrays, relational databases and hash tables.
TSP-CS 2.0 is starting with a pilot program at TAF@Saghalie, a 6th-12th grade public neighborhood STEM school co-managed by nonprofit TAF and Federal Way Public Schools (FWPS). Recently created for the 2017-2018 school year, the school is a result of TAF’s vision for expansion and FWPS learning initiatives, and combines TAF’s highly successful, award-winning TAF Academy with Saghalie Middle School. Through the successful merger, the school is able to provide STEMbyTAF curriculum to almost 700 students.
TAF@Saghalie’s student population is diverse (approximately 34% Hispanic; 23% White; 15% Black; 10% Asian; 12% Multiracial; 5% Pacific Islander; and 1% Native American, and of those 61% qualify for free and reduced lunch). Students are taught through a project-based learning approach and provided a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) rich education.
Volunteer with TSP-CS (2.0) Pilot Program
As a TSP-CS volunteer, you will contribute meaningfully to the student experience in an innovative and diverse program.
Selected TSP-CS volunteer participants will collaborate with TAF@Saghalie faculty in different grade levels and subjects to develop curriculum for each school year. TSP-CS participants can apply for a range of commitments, but this in fact a commitment, and students, teachers, and the TAF community are counting on volunteer participants to help create an enriched learning experience for the students at TAF@Saghalie.
The TSP-CS 2.0 pilot program for the 2017-2018 school year is centered around STEM projects. Each TSP-CS participant in the Pilot Program will collaborate with faculty to teach approximately five (5) students how to write software in the context of STEM projects for the school’s annual STEM Expo. We expect the Pilot Program to begin in Fall 2017 and continue through March 2018. The full TSP-CS 2.0 program covering many more students is expected to launch for the 2018-2019 school year, beginning in September 2018, and will continue to grow each successive year.
Volunteers may apply to participate in the Pilot Program and/or the full program by filling out this form.
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