Computational Thinking Pathways - BCPS is proud to partner with the non-profit organization, Digital Promise, to help expand computer science in schools, not just in Broward County, but across the nation.  BCPS is one of six school districts participating in a new, four-year, $2 million National Science Foundation Research-Practice Partnership – Districts Helping Districts:  Scaling Inclusive Computational Thinking Pathways. The goal of the partnership is to develop and refine strategies for increasing computer science participation by learners from underrepresented backgrounds.   

Computer Science - BrowardCODES - Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) continues to be spotlighted by the White House as a national model for expanding access to computer science in schools. Through the District’s #BrowardCODES initiative, BCPS has expanded its connections between K-12 and computer science career pathways in South Florida in partnership with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, South Florida Regional TechGateway, and other local businesses.  More than 50,000 students are positively impacted by computer science offerings at 100 percent of BCPS K-12 schools.

Computational Thinking Pathways - BCPS is proud to partner with the non-profit organization, Digital Promise, to help expand computer science in schools, not just in Broward County, but across the nation.  BCPS is one of six school districts participating in a new, four-year, $2 million National Science Foundation Research-Practice Partnership – Districts Helping Districts:  Scaling Inclusive Computational Thinking Pathways. The goal of the partnership is to develop and refine strategies for increasing computer science participation by learners from underrepresented backgrounds.   

Florida K-12 Computer Science Certification Prep Camp, a five-day, intensive professional learning initiative to prepare district-identified teachers to pass the Florida Teacher Computer Science K-12 Certification Exam and expand Florida’s supply of certified, computer science teachers.

Spatial Learning Pathways - Spatial reasoning is the ability to think and manipulate objects in 3-dimensions, often starting with a 2-dimensional representation of the object. Whether it is redesigning their own workspace, visiting interstellar worlds, or simulating a biological system, these skills empower students to navigate, manipulate, create, and build with, around, and in physical and virtual space. BCPS currently has a cohort of high school teachers trained in the Magic Leap 1 hardware and in 3D design/programming (Unity or Unreal).

Environmental Stewardship programs are open to all schools at every level (pK - technical colleges).

• Environmental Stewardship brochure - downloadable brochure of all our environmental initiatives.
  
  
• BCPS EcoGuide - Visit the BCPS EcoGuide for all things environmental! You will find resources, contacts, lesson plans, activities, field trips, and so much more. 
  
  
• The P3 Eco-Challenge recognizes and rewards schools, educators, students, custodial and non-instructional staff for their environmental stewardship at an annual Awards Ceremony for nominees in May of the school year. Cash and in-kind prizes are provided for winners.
  
  
• Broward Youth Climate Summit - The Youth Climate Summit provides a platform for grades 5-12 students to advocate for policy change and gives students a voice for promoting environmental sustainability.  Students who attend the Summit share their climate action plans or projects and network with each other, elected officials and scientists working on sustainability issues.  
  
  
• TEA Garden Food Forest - Technology Enabled Agriculture (TEA) or TEA Garden Food Forest is an in-depth model to educate students, teachers and their communities on how and why they can sustainably grow edible food together in their neighborhoods. Integrating schoolyard edible gardening in classrooms, cafeterias and afterschool programs, the Broward TEA Garden Food Forest also incorporates exciting technology used in the agriculture industry, such as drones, sensors, artificial intelligence, and digital data collection and collaboration. 
  
  
• How Low Can You Go challenge - BCPS has partnered with the Miami Heat to see which school can reduce their percentage of energy and water consumption the most over a three-month period of time.
  
  
• Schoolyard Gardens - Schools are provided with a comprehensive curriculum supplement for teaching health, science, language arts, mathematics, and social studies through the use of school gardens. 
  
  
• Food Recovery Program - The Food Recovery Program is a pilot initiative aimed to reduce a school’s carbon footprint.  Students are encouraged to donate leftover unopened, uneaten or unpeeled items from their lunch trays that they don’t want to eat.  These collected foods are donated to a community food bank or other non-profit organizations.

SECME-STEM Olympics - SECME STEM Olympiad program in Broward Schools is a strategic alliance to renew and strengthen the professional capacity of K-12 educators, motivate and mentor students, and empower parents so that all students can learn and achieve at higher levels. STEM is a Nationwide initiative which focuses on Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The SECME – STEM Olympiad combines these two philosophies into one event and will focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics principles as well as SECME national competitions. Broward County students compete in mousetrap cars, water bottle rockets, banners, essays, generator build, bionic arms, team challenge and VEX exhibition. Starting in 2017-18, the Broward SECME Bridge competition is affiliated with the Broward MPO/AASHTO National Bridge competition for grades 7/8, 9/10 and 11/12.

VEX Robotics - Through partnerships with Code.org and grants from the National Science Foundation and the REC Foundation for VEX robotics, Broward County Public Schools is providing opportunities for all students in computer science and robotics.

BCPS esports in education provides new opportunities for students to engage in their school community and foster teamwork.

BCPS Esports launched its first tournament featuring the videogame "Rocket League" at Blanche Ely High School on Saturday, October 29, 2022. Rocket League is a fast-paced game of cars playing soccer with an ESRB rating of E (for Everyone). Teams representing middle, high, and center schools from across the district competed for the grand prize of $1,000, second place school $750, and third place school $500 to support their continued participation in our growing esports program.

Since its inauguration, BCPS esports has been expanded to include many schools and the Applied Learning Department plans on expanding the esports initiative across 100% of secondary grade schools by 2026.

Broward Schools is utilizing the Minecraft Education platform to engage students in problem and project-based learning. Minecraft challenges involve collaboration with other children and teammates, addressing our goal of classroom equity and increasing the number of young women engaging in STEM through a positive online digital world environment. 

As of the end of the 2022-23 school year, BCPS has nearly 30,000 active Minecraft Education users.

The P3 Eco-Challenge recognizes and rewards traditional BCPS schools, teachers, students, non-instructional and custodial staff for their efforts to learn about and implement environmentally sustainable measures and green initiatives within their schools and communities. There are two types of P3 challenges: P3 School Challenge – For schools that demonstrate participation in or implementation of different sustainability metrics based on a rubric composed of 5 comprehensive categories.Environmental Stewardship Recognition – For BCPS teachers, students, non-instructional and custodial staff who show evidence of promoting civic responsibility, environmental stewardship, and education of environmental issues.

Spatial reasoning is the ability to think and manipulate objects in 3-dimensions, often starting with a 2-dimensional representation of the object. Whether it is redesigning their own workspace, visiting interstellar worlds, or simulating a biological system, these skills empower students to navigate, manipulate, create, and build with, around, and in physical and virtual space. We train teachers in the Magic Leap hardware and in 3D design/programming (Unity, Unreal, Minecraft, Tinkercad, Paint 3D, etc.).

The Broward Youth Climate Summit provides a platform for BCPS students in grades 5-12 to advocate for policy change and gives students a voice for promoting environmental sustainability.  Students attend (virtually and/or in-person) a convention-type event to understand current events, connect with like-minded peers, receive resources and be involved in the latest climate-related learning.

STEM + Computer Science Events and Initiatives Sponsorship Opportunities

Thank you for supporting our events and initiatives! You will find our sponsorship flyers to support:

• The Broward Youth Climate Summit
• Computer Science Workshops
• Drones
• e-Sports
• Gardening Workshops
• SECME-STEM Olympiad
• STEM Fairs
• P3 Eco-Challenge
• Spatial Computing
• VEX Robotics

Globalization has resulted in the movement of jobs to countries with lower-wage workers.  In order to compete globally, the United States must ensure that our students have the skills needed for the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century.  Research on job growth show that in the next few years 15 of the 20 fastest growing jobs will require substantial math and science preparation.  But when compared to other students on international tests of math and science, US students performed 25th in math and 21st in science of 30 industrialized nations.

Based on the data, it has become clear that schools that provide a rich environment of challenging courses in math and science, and support student growth in these STEM fields are successful in preparing students for future positions, decisions and coursework

Research shows that students who had research experiences in high school, who undertook an apprenticed mentorship or internship, and whose teachers connected the content across different STEM courses were more likely to complete college in a STEM major than their peers who did not report these experiences.  While not all students may be attending colleges or universities, it is understood that STEM-based decisions have become increasingly important as they power our economy and constitute fundamental aspects of our lives as citizens, workers, consumers, and parents.

Lisa Milenkovic, Supervisor

Instructional Facilitators:

• Sheryl Arriola, M.Ed
• Belinda Beckford
• Adrian L. Carter
• James English
• Cynthia (Cindy) Griffin
• Rebecca Malones, M.Ed
• Annmargareth Marousky
• Summer Scarlatelli, M.Ed
• Debra "Kelly" Thomas, Ed.S

Nunderia (Nundy) Adderley - Professional Development Specialist

Contact: browardstem@browardschools.com