SkoCode Year Three: Grow Our Community, Expanding Opportunities
A new school year is beginning, and the SkoCode community is growing. As SkoCode enters its third year, the program has expanded from 7 schools to 11 schools and from 8 SkoCode educators to 13. This growth means more students will have opportunities to explore computer science and AI literacy while connecting technology to their cultures, communities, and futures.
This year, we welcome new SkoCode programs at Chinle Elementary School in Chinle, Arizona; Mesa Elementary School in Shiprock, New Mexico; Newcomb High School in Newcomb, New Mexico; Maȟpíya Lúta in Pine Ridge, South Dakota; and Turtle Mountain Community High School in Belcourt, North Dakota.
Our expansion into North Dakota is especially exciting. Through a partnership with the American Indian College Fund and Turtle Mountain Community College, Connor Glasner, a student at Turtle Mountain College, will serve as a SkoCode educator to support students at Turtle Mountain Community High School. Through this partnership we are working to strengthen a computer science pathway from high school to college. It is an example of what becomes possible when schools, colleges, community partners, and Indigitize work together to create sustained opportunities for Native students.
Beginning the Year Together
The SkoCode community gathered at the Native American Community Academy (NACA) in Albuquerque from July 29 through 31 for our annual Cohort Connect to prepare for the year ahead. Returning and new educators share three days learning, planning, and building relationships. Educators received training and resources to support computer science and AI literacy instruction, while also exploring how technology learning can remain grounded in culture and community.
Shaniah Yazzie helped open and close our time together, sharing culturally relevant approaches to computer science that stretched from Star Wars inspired lightsabers to hydroponics. Her creativity offered a reminder that computer science can begin with the interests, experiences, and imagination students already bring with them.
Learning Through Community
One of the most meaningful parts of Cohort Connect took place at the Indigenous Farm Hub, where learning moved beyond computers and into community, land, and shared experience.
With guidance from Tamatane I'atala, our educators worked together to build a Thípi, learning not only about the process of building it, but also about the community and wisdom carried within that process.
We ended our time at the Farm Hub with Max Lopez, who guided the group in planting squash and watermelon.
These experiences reflect an important part of SkoCode. Technology does not exist separately from people, culture, or place. As educators prepare students to understand and shape emerging technologies, they are also exploring how those tools can be used in service of their communities.
And in the middle of that experience, something unexpected happened.
When the Impact Comes Full Circle
SkoCode educator, Halona Brewer, realized that Tama had been her teacher when she was a seventh grader at Mahpiya Luta in Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
Years later, more than 700 miles from Pine Ridge, student and teacher found themselves together again at the Indigenous Farm Hub in Albuquerque.
Halona shared with the group that Tama had been the reason she wanted to learn Lakota. She recently earned her Lakota language certificate.
It was a beautiful full circle moment, but it was also an important message for every educator standing there. Teachers do not always get to see where the seeds they plant will grow. A lesson, a conversation, or simply seeing an adult who believes something is worth learning can stay with a young person long after they leave a classroom. Sometimes, years later and in a place you never expected, you get the gift of seeing that impact come back around. For our SkoCode educators preparing to begin another year with students, it was hard to imagine a better reminder of why their work matters.
Ready for Year Three
As we begin our third year, SkoCode is larger, but our purpose remains deeply personal. Thirteen educators will walk into 11 schools carrying new skills, new ideas, and the support of a growing community behind them. They will introduce students to coding, robotics, AI literacy, digital citizenship, and other emerging technologies. Just as importantly, they will help students explore how those tools can connect to their identities, cultures, communities, and aspirations.
We are grateful to our school and community partners, the American Indian College Fund, Turtle Mountain Community College, the Indigenous Farm Hub, and everyone who helped make Cohort Connect possible. Most of all, we are excited to see what our SkoCode educators and students create together in year three.
As Halona and Tama reminded us, we may not always see the impact of an educator in the moment. Sometimes the story is still being written.
