Now in its sixth year, Code@TACC summer camps have served more than 450 students
The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin recently received a $120,000 grant from the Harman-Mayes-Sooch Family Fund to support Code@TACC 2022, the center's signature summer residential program for high school students.
This is the sixth grant TACC has received from the Harman-Mayes-Sooch Family.
"The Harman-Mayes-Sooch Family has believed in our vision and commitment to serve underserved and underrepresented communities since the inception of Code@TACC in 2015," said Rosalia Gomez, director of the Education and & Outreach group. "The impact Code@TACC has had on hundreds of students would not be possible without their generosity."
The grant will be used to support Code@TACC's three summer camps — Code@TACC Robotics, Code@TACC Cybersecurity, and Code@TACC Connected.
"After two years of hosting virtual camps during the pandemic, we're looking forward to being back in person so we can give students the residential student experience and the benefits that come with that, like developing new friendships, visiting laboratories, and learning about opportunities across campus," Gomez said.
Between 2009 and 2013, the family fund awarded TACC $20,000 for education and outreach activities and a curriculum development project. In 2015, TACC received its first award from the STEM Learning Investment Hub to help fund its pilot Code@TACC program — the Harman Family was a contributor to the Hub. From 2015-2017, TACC received another three awards totaling $102,000; and in 2020, TACC received a $56,000 award. Including the latest grant, TACC has received $298,000 in total funding from the Harman-Mayes-Sooch Family fund.
Community support is at the core of the Family Fund's mission.
"Our work has always been rooted in the belief that education is the key for economically disadvantaged children and families to escape poverty and access higher-paying employment opportunities," said Janet Harman, who founded what was then called the KDK-Harman Foundation in 2004. The organization was converted into a donor-advised fund, housed at the Austin Community Foundation and named the Harman-Mayes-Sooch Family Fund in 2017.
"I'm incredibly proud of what we have accomplished at KDK-Harman and humbled by the amount of support we have received from the community over the years," she said.
Harman graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree, and then earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Her three children also graduated with engineering degrees, and the original foundation — KDK-Harman — was named in honor of her children: Kevin, David, and Kelly.
"We recognize the importance of studying STEM and pursuing STEM careers," Harman said. "We're happy to support summer programs in coding to help young people get an introduction to well-paying jobs in high-demand fields."
Code@TACC started in 2015 with just 50 students. Now in its sixth year, the program has served more than 450 students, with the majority from African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx backgrounds. Forty-five percent of the participants have been girls, and 44 percent have been first-generation college aspirants (children of parents who do not hold college degrees). Of the 140 students who attended a Code@TACC camp between 2015-2019 and are now pursuing postsecondary education, 66 percent are majoring in STEM fields.
TACC Education and Outreach staff make a concerted effort to visit high schools, local businesses, and churches to promote Code@TACC camps. Staff members recruit students who are new to coding and camp experiences, or who may not know how to access or navigate higher education.
For Yaritza Kenyon, now a freshman Computer Science (CS) major at Texas State, attending Code@TACC camps was a life-changing event. Kenyon attended a total of three camps during her time at Del Valle High School outside of Austin.
"I didn't know what I wanted to do, but through Code@TACC, I found my career path in CS," she said. "Dawn Hunter, one of the TACC E&O program leads, encouraged me to enter the robotics program, and it changed my life. I enjoyed it so much, I became a mentor the following year."
Jaimron Monroe, now a sophomore at the University of Houston-Victoria, fondly remembers the camaraderie at Code@TACC. Monroe attended camps during his sophomore and junior years at Sidney Lanier High School, which was renamed to Juan Navarro High School in 2019.
"I didn't know what I wanted to do, but through Code@TACC, I found my career path in CS."
"I met a lot of new people," Monroe said. "Everyone was hesitant to open up at first, but as we got comfortable with each other and started doing things together, we got closer. In the dorms, we'd stay up late just talking about life and having fun. That was the first time I stayed in a dorm, and honestly, it was everything I expected. Having that mini-college experience really opened my mind and helped me to grow as a person."
The student success stories are the continuing fulfillment of a vision Gomez had for the program.
"When I joined TACC in 2011, it was clear to me that we needed to create programming that would allow for deeper and longer-term engagement, beyond one-time interactions, specifically for underrepresented students," she said.
In Code@TACC's first year, an all-girl cohort built a parallel computer cluster using small-scale Raspberry Pi microcomputers that was powerful and low-energy enough to earn a spot on the Graph 500 List, a ranking of the world's most energy efficient supercomputers.
Over the years, the program has expanded its offerings to include Code@TACC Robotics, a camp which introduces students to programming and electronics; Cybersecurity, a camp designed to increase students' interest in cybersecurity careers and online safety; and Connected, where students use networked sensors to collect data and create models for environmental problems.
Code@TACC camp participants and families are also invited to Back@TACC quarterly outreach events to continue developing coding, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, and benefit from academic and professional development workshops.
"The success of Code@TACC has been a team effort," Gomez said. "The E&O team is passionate about addressing inequities, and we are grateful for TACC researchers and staff who volunteer their time to mentor students and provide technical support. We look forward to new experiences in 2022."
Learn more about upcoming Code@TACC summer camps.
