It’s been a quiet week for the OregonCSTA as we, like all Oregon educators, have enjoyed the spring break.  Things will pick up next Saturday, April 8 when the Oregon Game Project Challenge (OGPC), sponsored by OregonCSTA, holds its annual Main Event at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR. For 2017, the tenth annual event, the theme is Space Race. Come see how students interpret the theme and what our many teams from across Oregon and Washington have created. Best of all, the Oregon Game Project Challenge Main Event is free to attend and open to the public.  No need to register or get tickets to attend.  

Much further out, the 2017 CSTA Annual Conference will take place July 8-11 in Baltimore, Maryland.  However, for the second year in a row Oracle Academy is providing first-time CSTA Conference Attendees with the opportunity to receive a $1,000 scholarship to help them attend the conference. Applications will be accepted from April 1st – May 1st. For more details see the Oracle Academy Scholarship page.

Following the CSTA Conference is CSPDWeek, a set of CS-related development opportunities sponsored by the Infosys Foundation working with the national Computer Science Teachers Association and other CSTA regional chapters. It is an opportunity to receive intensive training around one of these courses/topics:

• AP Computer Science A (apply here)
• AP Computer Science Principles (apply here)
• Bootstrap (CS based algebra) (apply here)
• Counselors for Computing (apply here)
• Exploring Computer Science (apply here)

CSPDWeek is being held the week of July 16-21 in Golden, CO. Thanks to the generous support from the Infosys Foundation USA, the National Science Foundation, the National Center for Women & IT and the Computer Science Teachers Association full-scholarships will be available to teachers and counselors who participate. This includes travel, dorm room accommodations, food, training, materials and a stipend for those who attend.  If you are looking for in depth training on one of those subjects, you should visit www.cspdweek.org to learn more. Signups are open and each program has a limited number of seats, so you think you might be interested, you should move fast to learn more and apply.