Teenagers in San Luis worked on coding Monday for Raspberry Pi, which is a computer system and not the edible dessert.
The Arizona Western College Informatics program and the Southwest Technical Education District of Yuma, or STEDY, held a “Raspberry Jam” for middle and high school students on Monday, the first event of its kind in Yuma County.
A Jam is an event where people with different levels of computing experience work on computer systems called Raspberry Pi, as in the math number. Officials say it’s important to promote STEM careers for underrepresented groups including females and Latinos.
Joselyn Medina is an academic advisor and outreach coordinator for the Informatics program.
“We’re hoping they get the gist of what it is to work with technology, to get them started with these kinds of programming, to let them know how fun it is," Medina said. "It’s exciting and you can do so many things in careers for today and tomorrow.”
Organizers said the event, which was held at the AWC San Luis Technology Institute, had about 30 students in attendance. The event began on time but was cut short due to an evacuation as San Luis firefighters arrived on the scene. Organizers said the event will be rescheduled.