Computer Science is a financially stable, creative, and rewarding career. Why are so few high school students choosing it? CS in a bad year has a better job market than many majors in a good year. If you're interested in sparking the interest of K-12 students, check out these opportunities.
NCSI and MRL have active outreach and undergraduate research programs. In computer science, we are in dire need of graduate student volunteers for such activities. If you are willing to volunteer to be a graduate student mentor for an undergraduate summer or school year project, or if you would be willing to lead outreach sessions, please let Diana Franklin know at franklin@cs.ucsb.edu. Our lack of volunteers severely limits our efforts.
Family Ultimate Science Exploration(FUSE) nights
Teach middle school studies to count to 1023 on their fingers, how fax machines work, or how to sort themselves in parallel. We have a variety of activities that can be done. Three to four events occur each fall and spring. Contact franklin@cs.ucsb.edu if you are interested in volunteering.