Tech Camp 2022 took place Tuesday July 19 through Friday July 22, 2022, at the historic Franklin Jr High in Des Moines. As the flagship program of Tech Journey, the event demonstrated these core values. Specifically, Tech Camp 2022:
- Opened doors for 99 central Iowa students representing a more diverse distribution than that of Iowa students participating in AP Computer Science exams;
- Provided knowledge and inspiration through 19 half-day or full-day technology sessions across tracks of software development, hardware and physical computing, web development and media and maker camp;
- Enabled encouragement in technology and tech careers through two keynote speakers, a tech careers presentation and panel, an alumni panel and other group activities;
- Mobilized 78 local volunteer technology professionals to serve as keynote speakers, session facilitators, student mentors, camp hosts or serve in other capacities;
- Provided 42 Chromebook devices and accessories to students to take home after camp, fostering continued development of skills and ongoing enrichment; and
- Granted $7,500 in scholarships to seven graduating seniors who participated in Tech Camp for three or more years during their high school career.
One camp. 4 days. 20+ sessions. 60+ volunteers. 100+ students. Infinite impact.
Tech Camp is an immersive, invitation-only summer camp experience for central Iowa high school students. Since the first camp in 2013, a cohort of 8th and 9th grade students are invited each year with consideration given to socioeconomic status, gender and ethnicity/race. The new cohort, as well as the previous four cohorts, are invited to attend the one-week summer camp. Thus, many students in the program attend camp each year for up to five years as students who attend three or more years become eligible to receive a scholarship upon high school graduation.
Tech Camp 2023 will take place July 18-21.
During Tech Camp, students attend inspirational speaker sessions, technology exploration sessions and participate in other activities. Technology sessions are organized into tracks of software, hardware and physical computing or web development and media. Technologies and topics typically presented include, but are not limited to, Agile, Arduino, cloud computing, cybersecurity, engineering, game development, HTML/CSS/JS, machine learning, Python and robotics. All sessions are delivered by local technology professionals serving as volunteer speakers, facilitators and mentors. Students not only learn from and get to work alongside the professionals, but they get to engage with the professionals while discussing education, careers, jobs, motivations, skills, recommended resources and the like.