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CodeDay CS Fest Parent Helpdesk

Show only questions about:

Registration

At the Event

Safety & Security

Workshops

Rules & Legal

Can I volunteer?

For Students Attending The Event

If you're an advanced student (typically this means you've already taken AP CS, but that's not a requirement), you can submit a workshop for the event. This is handled as part of registration -- ask your teacher for more information.

For Industry Professionals

We need people to run workshops and other interactive activities. Please contact us for more info.

For Parents and Community Members

We usually don't need general event volunteers, but you're welcome to contact us anyway.

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Should students bring anything with them?

You don't need to bring anything, but you're welcome to consider:

A laptop, if you've got one! We have some loaners for all workshops requiring one, but they'll be allocated first-come-first-serve.
Your own food, if you have a strong dislike of sandwiches or pizza (which is what we usually serve). Don't worry if you're vegetarian or don't eat pork, we'll have options for you!
Snacks!

What happens during lunch?

Lunch is an opportunity for students to socialize, both within school groups, and with students with similar interests at other schools.

To encourage on-topic conversations, we have fun activities planned during lunch including:

Icebreakers
Group polls and quzzes
Coding interview puzzles, with (small) prizes

What is the Student Showcase?

At the start of each event, students have the opportunity to display their projects to students from other schools.

Each school can register which projects they'd like to display as part of the school registration process.

At events with at least five student projects, students will have the opportunity to cast a vote for their favorite project, and an audience choice award will be presented.

How do you ensure our students are safe?

Our events are held in closed locations, and students and chaperones have wrist-bands, and volunteers have ID badges, so we can ensure everyone present is authorized to be there. We provide volunteers (and, at larger events, contract security) to ensure that students are behaving safely and not attempting to leave the venue.

That said, the safety of students is ultimately up to your chaperones, particularly when walking to or from the event area. Please ensure your chaperones regularly check-in with students.

Can we arrive late? Can we leave early?

Yes, you can arrive late, and/or leave early.

If you're arriving late: we'll do our best to catch your students up when you arrive, but please go over the schedule with them in advance (either in-class the day before, or during bus ride over). Students will be expected to enter in-progress workshops quietly.

If you're leaving early: please ensure you have communicated a meeting time and place to all your students. Most venues do not have a global PA system for announcements, and making announcements is disruptive to other students staying throughout the event.

What happens after we arrive, but before the kickoff?

When you arrive, we'll direct you to the appropriate unloading spot (if necessary), and then your students will enter the venue and check in.

All students, teachers, and chaperones will receive a wristband at check-in which must be worn at all times in the venue for security reasons. Students without a signed release will receive a "No photos" sticker which they need to wear on the upper-front of their body during the event.

At T-15minutes, we'll host an icebreaker activity, where students will have the opportunity to talk with students from other schools. Then we'll get things started!

How can my student attend the CS Fair?

Unfortunately, we don't allow individual registrations for this event.

If your student is in high school, you should recommend the event to their teacher.

What workshops will you be hosting?

Each event has its own schedule customized to local startups and industries. Once your city's event is scheduled, you will be able to find detailed information on your event's workshop schedule on the website.

We typically have 3-4 tracks, each comprising 4 x 45-minute workshops on topics like:

Cyber Security
Video Game Development
Blockchain
Electronics (presented in partnership with DigiKey)
3D Printing/Laser Cutting
Android/iOS Mobile App Development
Machine Learning
UI/UX
Computer Networking
College Preparedness
Women in Tech and Diversity in Tech
Startups and Entrepreneurship

Workshops are designed to spark further interest.

Our workshops are designed to offer students a hands-on sample of real-world technologies which may be exciting to them. For example, electronics workshops have students build a basic circuit on a breadboard, cyber security workshops walk through examples of real-life security problems in software, and in 3D printing workshops, students leave with a 3D printed object.

At the end of each workshop, students will be able to:

describe how each technology relates to their own life
identify at least one technology they're excited to pursue further
take the next steps to start learning about that technology

Students can run workshops, too!

We are actively soliciting interesting workshops which promote the above educational outcomes. If you have an advanced (AP or Post-AP) student with interesting experience in technology, they can submit a workshop idea here!

Is there a waiver or other paperwork required?

Because we'll be photographing the event, and other media outlets may be present, students, teachers, and chaperones all need to bring a signed media release form. Minors will need to have this form signed by their parents.

We will send you this form after your registration.

My region doesn't have an event, how do I start one?

Successful regions need:

A commitment to attend from local schools or districts.
A committed venue, or several potential venues.
About $5,000-10,000 in funding from a local sponsor.

If you think your region would be a good fit, please get in touch.