Last year's Computer Science (CS) Education Week was one to remember for Oakland schools. The celebration, in partnership with the Kapor Center, Level Playing Field Institute (LPFI), The Hidden Genius Project, and Code.org, helped launch much of Oakland's ambitious computer-science work.

But 2016 saw our schools build on that momentum to create an even deeper experience, giving all students—not just the programmers—the chance to find their place in the tech world. While the week typically revolves around the “Hour of Code,” this year's theme was "Beyond," expanding the offerings to take CS Education Week beyond the hour, beyond the code. The Ed Fund was proud to be part of the celebration, helping coordinate many of the volunteer visits through our Oakland School Volunteers program.

As Salesforce Senior Vice President of Sales Enablement Dan Darcy reflected after he and a group of colleagues spent a day volunteering at West Oakland Middle School (WOMS), "It was an amazing event. It was such a pleasure helping kids understand the basics of computer science...When they were able to make the connection between the code they wrote and how it created the app they were building, it was like watching magic happen. Thank you for letting me share in that experience. The staff and teachers are the real heroes there."

As WOMS Computer Science Teacher Kennan Scott said, "Every student at the school had an opportunity to code, create, remix, and build their own unique game." Get an inside look at the WOMS experience going "Beyond" in this video:

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