Hi Guest,

Happy Fall! The good news is that we’re half way through the semester and you are still hanging in there. Don’t forget the #miniwins and don’t forget that you are not alone in dealing with the gravity of this year. We are in the midst of gathering some critical feedback from a select group of our MAD-teachers so please check your inbox for that special invite in the next few days (with a bonus Amazon gift card to brighten your day!) It’s also time to VOTE so please make plans to safely have your voice heard by casting your ballot.

Code.org is hosting a series of webinars this week on underscoring the importance of Computer Science education in our K-12 schools. One of the most blaring stats was that 90% of parents want their child’s school to teach computer science. We are here to help if you haven’t started yet! As Jon says (more below), “Any student can do extraordinary things with MAD-learn.”

Alefiya Master

Founder & CEO

What’s New?

Free Trials for MAD-learn!

Due to the strong demand during the early months of the pandemic, MAD-learn has made free trials a regular part of the introductory process. Two-week free trails will give teachers and parents an opportunity to explore the program first hand, and see how easy and beneficial it can be to integrate app building into the curriculum. We encourage our current partners to share this opportunity. Just invite others to visit mad-learn.com and click the “Try it for free” button!

Congressional App Challenge Announced

This is a GREAT opportunity for MAD-students in 6th-12th grade: there is a good chance that their app is eligible to be entered into this year’sCongressional App Challenge. Students who reside or attend school in a participating district can submit an app coded in any language on any platform as long as it was completed after November 1st, 2019. With over 300 Members of Congress hosting App Challenges in their local districts, and with each district winner having their app showcased in the U.S. Capitol, there’s no better opportunity to have the work your organization is doing honored with the help of Congress. Deadline is October 19th, so encourage your students to enter their apps!

MAD-spotlight!

MAD-teacher of the Month

Jon Schroeder is a fixture at Indiana’s New Prairie Union School District. He went there as a student and has taught most of his 25 years there. He became a math teacher and was an original faculty member at the current middle school, where he is now the Industrial Technology teacher and also runs Project Lead the Way. Like most all of our MAD-teachers, he has plenty on his plate!

Jon enters his second year using MAD-learn as an essential part of his 7th grade classes, having taken over those duties when his predecessor (and former MAD-teacher of the Month) moved on. Jon says that using MAD-learn during the COVID-19 pandemic has been of particular benefit. “Hands down, this has been the easiest thing to do for the e-learning part of the job because it works without students having to be here in school. I can give them the links to the videos and other resources, and they can do it on their own.” Finally, when asked why he uses MAD-learn, he said that with MAD-learn “any student can do extraordinary things!”.

MAD-family

We want to thank all of the schools that have either renewed their partnerships with MAD-learn or are just joining our MAD-family. We are so happy to know we will be continuing our work to help students at:

Oceanside Schools (NY)
Jupiter Middle (FL)
Duval County GEAR UP (FL)
Manor Plains (NY)
Ripley Union Lewis Huntington (OH)
Kansas GEAR UP (KS)
Cobb County Schools (GA)
MacKinnon Middle (NJ)
Jewels Academy (IA)

Don’t leave without…

… checking out these young NASA Space Apps hackers!

Gregg spent last weekend conducting a workshop for Toronto Youth to help them build apps for the NASA Space Apps hackathon. It was great to see the energy on Discord and these talented young minds come up with solutions to some of NASA‘s biggest challenges. SpaceSnoozer is our favorite and here’s what the team says “After being used to help astronauts, it can extend to help others who aren’t doing well on eating, sleeping, exercising, and well-being.”