May 2026 Newsletter
CSinPA
Finishing Strong!
As the year winds down, now’s the time to make the most of CS opportunities for you and your students. This month’s newsletter highlights professional learning, student programs, and resources to help you finish the year strong.
Professional Learning
AI Webinar Series
The CSinPA team is currently hosting a series of webinars covering all the different ways AI is impacting education. You can find the schedule of upcoming topics, along with recordings of past webinars, in this section of our Community of Practice.
Upcoming Topics
5/7 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm – Vibe Coding in the Classroom
5/20 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm – AI as Your Teaching Assistant
Visit the AI in Education Webinar Series flyer for more information.
Micro-Credential Program (New course available)
Registration is available for the new courses and our existing course in our Micro-credential Program.
New Courses:
Implementing Accessible Educational Materials
CS Learning and Executive Functioning: Practical Strategies
The following courses are still available:
AI in the Classroom: Introduction (2-hour)
AI in the Classroom: Integrating AI to Support Student Learning (4- hour)
Cybersecurity in the K-8 classroom: Introduction (2-hour)
Cybersecurity Frameworks and Standards: Aligning Your Curriculum with Industry Best Practices (4 hour)
Using Music to Engage Students in CS Learning (4-hour)
Empowering all students in CS Learning through a Behavioral approach (4-hour)
Data Science in K–8 Classrooms: Connecting Concepts Through Computer Science
Additionally, Introduction to CS Education (3 hours) is available on the SAS website. This is our previous foundational CSinPA: Why, What, and How, which can be accessed through the PD Center on the Standards Aligned System (SAS) website (enrollment instructions).
Events
2026 Computer Science Camp
The 2026 CS Camp will be a part of PaTTAN’s 2026 Bridging Knowledge to Know-How Conference. This three-and-a half day camp offers an exciting hands-on computer science experience designed for high school students with disabilities. Visit our Youth and Family Opportunities SMORE for additional details and camp registration.
Registration is open now until June 15th. Any questions, contact us at CSCamp@pattan.net.
2026 AiC Collegiate Award Recipients from PA
Pennsylvania is represented by two of the 12 recipients of the 2026 NCWIT AiC Collegiate Award! The award recognizes technical contributions to projects demonstrating a high innovation level and potential impact among undergraduate and graduate students across the world.
Congratulations to Crystal Yang, Class of 2029 at the University of Pennsylvania and Meenakshi Nair, Class of 2029 at Carnegie Mellon University!
You can read about their impressive work on our Community of Practice.
Shout-Outs and Celebrations
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 4–8, 2026, and we want to send a heartfelt thank-you to all of Pennsylvania’s computer science teachers. Your work helps students build confidence, creativity, problem-solving skills, and pathways to the future.
Whether you are teaching CS every day or weaving computational thinking into another subject area, your impact matters.
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, and thank you for all you do for students across the commonwealth!
Resources & Opportunities
PAsmart Grant applications due May 8
The PAsmart Grant Applications are open until May 8, 2026 at 5:00 PM.
PAsmart Career and Technical Education Planning Grant:
Up to $75,000.00, these PAsmart Career and Technical Education Planning grants are designed to support facilitating broad, cross-sector partnerships that use collective impact approaches to establish integrated or stand-alone CS and STEM career and technical education offerings and are meant to accelerate efforts such as, but not limited to:
Expanding access to CS and STEM career and technical education (especially for historically underserved students, adult learners and communities) through the design of learning experiences that lead to dual enrollment, industry recognized credentials, work-based learning, internships, pre-apprenticeships, registered apprenticeships, satellite career and technical education sites, out-of-school time experiences, skills bootcamps; and
Expanding the number of CS and STEM career and technical education certified or highly qualified educators.
These grants are meant to support the design of plans for a community wide or regional approach to CS and STEM Career and Technical Education by funding the development of cross sector partnerships that will provide high quality CS and STEM career and technical education experiences to students of all ages.
Grant Submission Due: May 8, 2026
Performance Period Ends: June 30, 2027
PAsmart Career and Technical Education Innovation Grant:
Up to $500,000 each, Advancing grants are designed to support broad, cross-sector partnerships that are using the ecosystem and networked approaches to establish integrated or stand-alone CS or STEM career and technical education offerings and are meant to accelerate efforts such as, but not limited to:
Expanding access to CS or STEM career and technical education (especially for historically underserved students, adult learners, and communities) through learning experiences that promote dual enrollment, industry credentials, work-based learning, internships, pre-apprenticeships, registered apprenticeships, satellite career and technical education sites, out-of-school time experiences; and
Expanding the number of CS and STEM certified or highly qualified career and technical education educators.
These grants are meant to operate on a larger scale by funding partnerships that provide quality CS and STEM career and technical education experiences to students or adults as part of a high-level strategic approach to workforce and economic development.
Grant Submission Due: May 8, 2026
Performance Period Ends: June 30, 2027
Infosys Foundation USA Pathfinders Summer Experience Programming in Quorum 2026
The Experience Programming in Quorum workshop 2026 is in its 17th year as a workshop dedicated to teaching teachers code. This year, we will be exploring user interface design, kid friendly computer gaming, robotics, and exploring the world through data. Come explore exciting new versions of visual but accessible block programming for everyone.
Continuing education or ACVREP credits will be available for those that are interested.
For teachers applying to EPIQ, note that you can apply to only one Pathfinders course and if you apply for multiple courses, there are no scholarships.
Finally, for planning for EPIQ 2026, it greatly simplifies logistics to have an accurate headcount to manage housing and food costs. A full application includes the pathfinders letter and this application. We highly encourage early applications and may give priority for scholarships to those that submit early.
Dates:
June 22 - 26th, 2026
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
Scholarships available including potentially housing, flights, or food. Please use the required 2026 pathfinders letter to apply. If the pathfinders letter is a barrier, but you want to come, please feel free to email epiq@qorf.org with your intent to apply.
7-12 CS Praxis peer tutoring program
The peer tutoring program for teachers preparing for the PA 7-12 CS certification exam is back for 2025-26!
We continue to offer the program to participants in any current or previous PaTTAN 7-12 CS professional learning program (7-12 PAsmart 1.0/2.0, CSinPA 7-12 CS Praxis Prep pathway).
For more information on the CSinPA 7-12 Praxis Prep pathway for the 2025-26 school year please visit the flyer.
PA FlyLab: Our New Drone Community of Practice
Last month we launched our new space for educators who are teaching, exploring, or simply curious about drones in K–12 learning: PA FlyLab!
Whether you’re already part of one of our drone initiatives or you’re just getting started, you’re welcome here.
Join PA FlyLab to connect with others, share resources, stay in the loop and celebrate personal wins!
CSTA UDL4CS Cohort
Applications are open for the UDL4CS Cohort, a year long, paid virtual research opportunity focused on making computer science more accessible for students with disabilities. PK-8 school teams of 2 - 6 educators will engage in professional learning, apply inclusive teaching strategies, and collaborate with peers nationwide during the 2026 - 27 school year.
Apply by Sunday, May 17th to contribute to meaningful research and earn up to $1,250 per participant. To learn more about the project check out the CSTA website.
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