Welcome Back!
October, 2025
Meeting Agenda
Welcome and ice breaker | |
Announcements | |
November Highlight: Cybersecurity Awareness Month | |
November Highlight: CS Ed week planning | |
Resource Swap | |
Book Corner | |
Wrap up | |
Ice Breaker
Controversial topic today …
Most underrated Halloween candy?
Most overrated?
CSTA Announcements: NEWSLETTER!!!!
Our first new format newsletter went out!!!
If you didn’t get one, let us know
We need a teacher spotlight for November - nominate a colleague or yourself!
Any newsletter items can go to Kate
We’ll aim to get newsletters out in between a meeting and the next one - one per month
CSTA Announcements
MN + CS call for proposals coming soon Deadline will be Friday, December 12 Start working on proposals ideas! Our next meeting will focus on strategies for preparing proposals for MN+CS, other conferences, and papers for publication | |
CSTA Announcements
Reminder that our December meeting will be a book talk by author Cait Levin who wrote Imposter If you’d like to read the book before the meeting, now is a great time to request a copy from your library You do not need to read the book to participate in the discussion | |
CSTA Announcements: National Opportunities
October 25: Conference proposal office hours | November 18: CSEd week sneak peek |
November Highlight
Cybersecurity Awareness Month
November Highlight
CS Ed Week Preview
Resource Swap
Book Corner
October Book Club: Careers in CS & Cybersecurity
October Book Club: Careers in CS & Cybersecurity
Title: Hunting the Cyber Trail: Be a Computer Forensic Scientist by Alix Wood (2018)
Investigation into missing kid, Jethro Neale
Reader takes on the role of computer forensic scientist
“Solve It!” questions and tasks throughout
Audience: 4th, 5th, 6th grades
Resources:
Computer Forensic Scientist
October Book Club: Careers in CS & Cybersecurity
Title: How to Choose Your Perfect Computer Science Career by Cathleen Small (2023), part of a series from STEM Career Choices
Flowchart to help readers determine their personality types and preferences
Each chapter provides overview of different jobs
“A Day in the Life of…”
Audience: 4th, 5th, 6th grades
Resources:
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Career Exploration
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Teacher’s Desk (activities, posters, videos)
Helper, Builder, Creator, Organizer, Thinker
October Book Club: Careers in CS & Cybersecurity
Title: Problem Solvers: 15 Innovative Women Engineers and Coders by P. J. Hoover (2022) from the Women of Power Series
Audience: Middle School & High School
Resources:
Appendices at the end with more information
Author Interview: P. J. Hoover Tackles Nonfiction with Problem Solvers
Engineers & Coders
October Book Club: Careers in CS & Cybersecurity
Lola Eniola-Adefeso (professor of chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, and macromolecular science and engineering, University of Michigan)
Danielle Merfeld (VP and CTO, GE Renewable Energy)
Meredith Westafer (industrial engineering manager, Tesla)
Kara Sprague (executive VP and GM, F5)
Parisa Tabriz (head of Google Chrome)
Natalie Rusk (MIT Media Lab, Scratch designer and creator)
Sophia Velastegui (Microsoft’s CTO, oversees AI)
Victoria Garcia (engineering lead, Marshall Space Flight Center)
Gabriela A. Gonzalez (deputy director, Intel; runs Hermanas (Sisters in STEM))
Sue Black (computer science professor Durham University)
Noramay Cadena (mechanical engineer, managing partner, Supply Change Capital)
Karmella Haynes (biomedical engineer, associate professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University)
Eva Saravia (senior VP of global programs, Bohemia Interactive Simulations)
Shayna Begay (rocket surgeon, Sandia National Labs)
Swati Mohan (NASA engineer, Perseverance)
Women from Problem Solvers: 15 Innovative Women Engineers and Coders by P. J. Hoover
October Book Club: Careers in CS & Cybersecurity
Title: Green Card STEM Voices: Stories from Minnesota Immigrants Working in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, Tea Rozman Clark and Julie Vang (Eds.) (2020)
Audience: Middle School & High School
Resources:
Glossary at the end
Green Card Voices - Minneapolis-based non profit
Green Card Voices lesson plans and curriculum
Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from a St. Paul High School
Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from a Minneapolis High School
CS & Information Technology
October Book Club: Careers in CS & Cybersecurity
Getiria Onsingo from Nakuru, Kenya, now living in St. Paul, MN (field: computer science)
Hussein Farah from Mogadishu, Somalia, now living in St. Paul, MN (field: software development)
Manish Shahdadpuri from New Delhi, India now living in Blaine, MN (field: information technology)
Ingrit Tota from Kukës, Albania now living in St. Paul, MN (field: computer science)
Simeon Ngiratreged from Ngarchelong, Palau now living in Linwood Township, MN (field: information technology)
CS & Information Technology
October Book Club: Careers in CS & Cybersecurity
Bill Gates
Computer programmer
Software developer
In-depth look into the lives of two individuals with a significant impact on CS with very, very different beginnings and journeys.
The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Dr Fei-Fei Li (2023)
Source Code: My Beginnings by Bill Gates (2025)
Have a resource, opportunity, or experience that you want to share at a meeting or in our newsletter?
Fill out this form and someone from our team will get in touch with you!
Upcoming Events + Opportunities
Proposals for CSTA due October 26
YOU are an expert.
Share what you know with the CS education community!
Submit a teacher, organization, or resource for feature
This year we want to celebrate the great computer science happening in Minnesota
Fill out the form to nominate someone (or yourself) for recognition via CSTA socials
We can also use your story when advocating for CS at a state level
Next Steps
Help to Recruit!
Hello ______! I attended the CSTA-MN meeting this week and got some great ideas! Would you be interested in attending a meeting in the future? Sign up for CSTA-MN at https://minnesota.csteachers.org/ to be notified about upcoming meetings and events! We can attend together!
SAVE THE DATE:
Next Meeting
November 19, 2025
3:45 PM
Telling your CS Story!