Midphase Meets S.T.E.A.M.

S.T.E.A.M. – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics – this is in full force at Wilson Elementary school in Logan, Utah. Midphase lends a hand to put the T in STEAM.

“Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important..” -Bill Gates
We at Midphase understand the importance of encouraging the use of technology, not only to our clients but to the children of our clients as well. We would like to take a moment to recognize one of our own technology teachers, Cody Erekson – our self acclaimed Raspberry Pi enthusiast – and the all the wonderful things he has been working on with our local school kids with his Raspberry Pi S.T.E.A.M. Club.

Local S.T.E.A.M. activists can get involved here.

Cody recently dedicated his Friday mornings to support our local schools in their mission to teach technology to 1st-5th graders at Wilson Elementary school. His collaboration with Midphase and Raspberry Pi has created a learning environment conducive to the promotion of technology and educational growth, allowing kids to have hands-on experience with technological devices designed with their education in mind.
We asked Cody for all of the whos, whats and whys of his latest Raspberry Pi quest.
“When I began organizing the first Cache Valley Raspberry Jam, I sincerely hoped that from it would spring something more than a fun afternoon of like-minded people sharing an interest. The ultimate goal of a Jam is to spread awareness and interest of the Raspberry Pi, and more importantly the ultimate mission of technological education that the Raspberry Pi Foundation is on.” Cody explains.

Re-read our original post detailing Cody’s first adventure with Raspberry Pi event  here.

RaspberryPi.org is an organization dedicated to providing kids with small affordable computers in the pursuit of giving children the chance to learn basic programming and hardware at a young age. Cody is a self-acclaimed Raspberry Pi enthusiast and looks for any chance he can to teach and share the wonders that programming has to offer.
“Wilson Elementary hosts a variety of S.T.E.A.M. clubs every Friday by inviting various professionals and experts from around the community into the school.  Being contacted by the administration of a local elementary school and asked to directly educate children on this important topic struck me as the ideal outcome of what I had been hoping for.” Cody tells us.
Wilson Elementary School mirrors Cody’s sentiments saying, “The last two school years we have had a S.T.E.A.M.  focus at our school. We realize the importance of providing expanded learning opportunities to our students outside of the normal academic studies. We were able to reach out and partner with Cody Erekson, an employee of the UK2 Group. Cody is a man of many talents and passions, one of them being the Raspberry Pi. He truly has a passion and we heard lots of positive comment from the kids that love participating in his Friday Raspberry Pi Club. He has been an asset to our school, and he is teaching a whole new generation about the computer sciences and programming.”
Cody told us about his favorite experiences with the S.T.E.A.M. Club, “The best part was definitely those moments when the kids really ‘got it’ or when the parents understood what I was doing and why. One parent said to me ‘I wish you had been running this club all last summer, my son just sat in his room playing with Legos and watching TV.’ That really got to me because that kid was doing exactly what I did when I was younger. I didn’t care for team sports and living in a rural area meant there weren’t a lot of kids nearby to play with. I know my parents tried to find clubs and activities that interested me, but they had a really difficult time of it.”
See videos of the students and their Raspberry Pi success here and here.
The importance of S.T.E.A.M. education in schools has recently been gaining momentum. Cody explains that “there are not enough highly skilled workers in the technical industries today, and it will only get worse. As the world around us comes to rely more heavily on advanced technology, that technology surely relies on more knowledgeable people to keep it running, and to continue to advance it. These wonderful innovations we have cannot be created, distributed, and maintained by a handful of engineers and technicians.” S.T.E.A.M. education is important for schools to offer to prepare children for the tasks they will most certainly face.
Cody has used his relationship with Midphase to make his plans come to fruition. “Midphase has been very gracious in allowing me to take a great portion of a work day each week to go to Wilson Elementary and as a key sponsor of the Cache Valley Raspberry Jams. At our previous Jam, Midphase donated the Ultimate Starter Kits which we gave away to new users.”
The next Raspberry Pi Event is scheduled to take place at the end of January and we can’t wait! Be sure to follow up with the Midphase Blog for the next installment of Adventures with Raspberry Pi and Midphase!

To learn more about the amazing power behind the Raspberry Pi STEAM Club visit Midphase.com