Programs
Youth Code Jam
With the funds they received from the Rackspace Foundation, Youth Code Jam was able to provide an after-school club as well as two Code Jams, free events that allow all students and their grown-ups to explore coding and technology in an inclusive and interactive environment. These events provide a judgment-free zone full of fun, encouragement and exploration. It’s all about sparking interest and trying new things. Attendees can learn about career pathways from field experts, engage with like-minded community members, and learn about emerging technology, trends and more. Jams are free and open to all K-12 students.
Township of Union Public Schools
The Township of Union Public School District is in northern-central Union County, New Jersey. It is the fourth-most diverse town in New Jersey. The school system currently operates ten schools serving roughly 7,300 students in kindergarten through 12th grade (six kindergartens through grade four elementary, one fifth grade school, two middle schools and one comprehensive high school).
The Rackspace Foundation provided funding to supplement its STEAM initiatives throughout the school district. The district used our funding in a variety of ways to support technology education across all elementary, middle and high school grade levels. The Rackspace Foundation grant supported the district’s goals to improve access to current technology and have it in the hands of its students. These lifelong learning experiences will enable students to be better prepared for the changing technology landscape and increase their interest in the field.
For example, 3D printers were purchased for technology and coding classes and in after-school sessions. Coding robots were purchased for elementary school programs and materials were purchased to create a podcasting program to teach students how to create a school podcast. Our support enabled the school system to create hands-on learning experiences in these areas as well as in their CAD and drone programs.
Gemini Ink
Gemini Ink supports writing arts programs for disadvantaged youths and adults. The Rackspace Foundation primarily provides funding for their youth programs in the NEISD (Northeast Independent School District) which supports 30 public classes, training for incoming teaching artists and special events, such as hosting a “Big Texas author talk” with a well-known Texas author.
Our funding supports workshops at three campuses serving a total of 44 students:
- At Campus I, students explored everything from the complexities of friendship to their favorite things, to fantastical imaginings. Through these exercises, students wrote poetry, mini-plays, flash fiction, and comic strips. This workshop also incorporated mindfulness, play, and team-building exercises to promote self-regulation and community.
- At Campus II, students used performance-based writing to reflect on their daily lives through poetry, live storytelling, sensory writing, and flash fiction. These exercises allowed our young writers to play with fresh approaches to personal narratives, odes, and even the editing process. The workshop also incorporated icebreakers, group activities, and a daily mantra to create a sense of community–one where our students felt comfortable taking creative risks.
- At Campus III, students who have a lot of language and learning needs, are currently exploring flash fiction and comics through the studying of fantasy, science fiction, and traditional literature, including folktales, fables, and myths. This is a truly bilingual workshop where both instructors are native Spanish speakers.
Assistance League of San Antonio
Through funding provided by the Rackspace Foundation, the Assistance League of San Antonio has provided support to four of the Magnificent 7 Elementary Schools through their Operation School Bell® program. The program provides children in grades kindergarten through fifth grade with an opportunity to “shop” for new clothes with the help of their member volunteers.
Rackspace Foundation supported 250 Title I students at Camelot, Montgomery, Windcrest and Walzem Elementary Schools with two complete outfits that included: two new pants and shirts, a pair of sneakers, jacket, reading book, hygiene kit, five pairs of underwear and socks.
With support from wonderful partners, like the Rackspace Foundation, we were able to serve more than 16,000 low-income students in Title I schools throughout Bexar County. THANK YOU for your continued support!
Girlstart
Girlstart empowers girls through STEM. They work towards a future where all who identify as girls believe they have the potential to change their world through STEM. They foster curiosity, promote diversity, facilitate continuous learning, embrace joy, and instill resilience in every young mind they touch.
The Rackspace Foundation has enabled Girlstart to provide free, hands-on STEM learning to 41 girls in grades 4 and 5 at Windcrest and Camelot Elementary Schools. Girls in San Antonio designed, built and tested gliders, created a model canyon and explored the forces that create canyons, learned what it looks like to pollute and clean up a tiny ecosystem, created a DNA bracelet with their own inherited traits, programmed and built their own pedometer to track daily steps, acted as engineers while exploring renewable and nonrenewable resources and much, much more!
This summer Girlstart aims to reach approximately 25+ (900+ nationally) girls in San Antonio through one engineering and technology-intensive Girlstart Summer Camp. This summer’s theme in San Antonio is Girlstart Galaxy. Participants will channel their inner NASA team member by exploring what it takes to land on the moon through an interactive Virtual Reality landscape, and by engineering devices to help spacecraft launch and land. Girls will also simulate a solar eclipse, create an original VR experience, collect planetary
core samples, and cultivate space crops in this out-of-this-world STEM camp. Many of Girlstart’s hands-on STEM activities use the engineering design process, which encourages campers to imagine, build and when necessary, revise solutions if they don’t work on the first try.
Coming Soon
YOSA (Youth Orchestras of San Antonio):
North East Educational Foundation
Communities in Schools
Pruitt Library Chess Program
