It's 3:42 a.m. and I have been awake since 1:00 a.m (one of the perks of not being married I guess) after a long day of meetings, meetings and more meetings. I don't think I have driven around the city of Abuja in the past one year like I have in the past 2 days. Winning a grant is one thing and I must let you know that execution is ANOTHER THING! However, that's what makes it beautiful.
When I won the Google CS4HS grant on behalf of my University, the Nigerian Turkish Nile University, it really didn't occur to me then what it was going to take to pull an event of the kind that I had imagined during the penning down of my proposal. I knew it was going to be tedious but that reality didn't really dawn on me until about a week ago. So far so good I am glad to say that things are going very well. It's been raining cats and dogs here in Abuja but that has not in anyway stopped me from going about to get the things that need to get done before Monday 24th when we kick off. I was so touched when I received emails from a couple of young teachers in Lagos and Katsina State informing me that they will be coming for the program regardless of the distance. It made me want to do more and I know that they won't regret going out of their way to travel such distances to be here.
My speakers' list is a very impressive one. I am so glad to announce our Keynote Speaker, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji who against his very busy schedule with the software engineers at Andela decided that he was going to clear up his schedule to come speak at our event. He will be speaking to the teachers about the future of education and
the role teachers have to play in strategically positioning their
students to take advantage of that bright future. He will
also be talking about the kind of talent they hire at Andela and why
it's important for teachers to get their students deeply engaged in STEM
and CS Education (a little bird whispered to me that he will also be telling us why they pay people to learn Computer Science!). So who is this young and smart education technology entrepreneur?
Co-Founder and Director, Recruitment, Andela
Iyinoluwa is a Nigerian serial entrepreneur with several years of
experience running social ventures in education technology and
publishing. When he was 18, he worked as an intern for the World Youth
Alliance in the United Nations Headquarters. He went on to run one of
Canada’s largest student-owned publishing houses, Imprint Publications
as President of the Board. Iyinoluwa helped found and run Bookneto Inc, a
social e-learning platform for university professors to teach online
courses. Bookneto Inc. was acquired in 2013.
Iyinoluwa holds a
Bachelor’s Degree in Legal Studies from the University of Waterloo in
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Iyinoluwa is a recipient of several awards
and honors including the John C Holland Award for Youth Leadership
(awarded by JC Holland Foundation in 2010), Nigeria’s top 20 under 20
(awarded by Ynaija! in 2011) and World Economic Forum Global Shaper in
2012.
If you are a Secondary School teacher involved in teaching Computer Science, Information Technology or any other ICT related field and you haven't yet registered for this event, please send an introductory email with the subject CS4HS 2015 to tabotarreytambe@gmail.com. Limited travel support for participants is available. In addition to
this, coffee breaks and lunch will be catered for by the Organizers.
I think there are very few Conferences and Workshops where people get "funding" to attend especially in Nigeria so why don't you jump on the train and let's change the face of education in this Nation together! Can't wait for Monday 24th to come! Please don't miss it.
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