Thank you, Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and South Shore Council!

Thanks to a very generous donation of $17,500, we have been able to expand our STEM Corps programming into South Shore! We have been offering free weekly classes at the South Shore Regional Library and exposing a new group of youth to our enriching technology classes. Without this wonderful contribution, this programming would not be possible.

Below Elaine Davis of the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and South Shore Council presents check to Ralph Smith and youth who meet at South Shore Regional Library.

Executive Director's Message

Hello everyone,

Thank you again for taking the time to read our newsletter. We are very pleased to be able to tell you about an internship for one of our students at Lucayen Technology Solutions. Thank you very much Mr. Ricardo Burrage Sr. and staff for making this possible.

But this month I need to make an appeal. We are currently in the midst of our Fall Board Member Fundraising Campaign. Each of our Board members is attempting to raise $1,000 to support our programs. We are matching this with a challenge grant from Conn Memorial Foundation. Conn will provide a dollar for dollar match for the first $15,000 we raise in this campaign. The bad news is that we only have until November to be able to take advantage of this match, so we are asking you to support your favorite Computer Mentors Board Member by going to our website (www.computermentors.org) and choosing the menu item “Donate -> Current Board Directed Campaign” and selecting your favorite Board member to make your contribution to.

Also, one other thing that I wanted to do this month. I like to give a “shout out” to a couple of awesome volunteers. Anthony (Tony) Yeoman, Hommy Rasado, Kenny Zoodsma, Tim Hieberlein and Steven Stasiukiewicz, all spent a couple of nights brainstorming with us on the direction of our training program for 2017. Also between the brainstorming sessions a couple of these guys are working one-on-one with youth in the program. We really appreciate having dedicated professional volunteers to assist us with mentoring and program design.

Best regards,

Ralph Smith

Student Highlight

Charlie Santo began at Computer Mentors in the summer of 2014 while attending Middleton High School. He participated in the summer program and continued into our year-round program studying Mobile App Development. By the following summer, Charlie was volunteering each day helping others as they participated in the same Mobile App program. This past summer, Charlie also helped with KidsCode, teaching middle school students how to create their own games using a drag-and-drop interface.

Charlie also participated in the 2015 Teen Business Challenge, in which he worked on Team Red, a group of high school aged peers tasked with coming up with the next big business idea. He is now interning at Lucayen Technology Solutions and will be attending HCC in the Spring with a focus on Software Development for Game Design.

Great job, Charlie! And thank you very much Lucayan Technology Solutions!

Student Testimonial

"My experience at STEM Corps Computer Mentors has been amazing. I was expecting to learn somethings I already knew, but after a few weeks I realized that joining STEM Corps Computer Mentors was a great idea. I was learning things I had never learned before. We were learning new things while working on projects that apply those skills and earning points. Ever since I joined STEM Corps Computer Mentors, my brother and I have never missed a single week. We have been there since the beginning. So I just wanted to say thanks for giving us this opportunity to work on projects and earn points."
-Eduardo Garza

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