Hello Google Group Members,

Thank you for being part of this community of dedicated CS educators and advocates that has grown tremendously over the last 9 years. We started with just a handful of people, but now have 448 CS educators/advocates as members. It is based on a simple vision that ALL students in NJ should have the opportunity to study Computer Science. While there is still a ways to go to reach that goal, the progress we have made is in larger part to the efforts of the members of this group.

A few changes have recently been made that we think will help as we move to the next phase of implementation of CSforAll.

First, the four NJ chapters of CSTA have combined into one CSTANJ chapter. In order to officially be a member of CSTANJ, you will need to become a member of CSTA national. All communications will come through their MemberNova system. There will be an email from the CSTANJ leadership team in the next day or so giving details about this change.

Secondly, we also created the CS4NJ Coalition, which is a non-profit under the Research and Development Council of New Jersey. The goal of CS4NJ Coalition is to help coordinate efforts of various stakeholders to help ensure all students in NJ have access to equitable and high quality CS education. We also hope that our website will become a repository for everything related to CS education in NJ (CS4NJ.org)

The name of this group will be changed from CSTANJ Google Group to CS4NJ Google Group. There will be no changes to how this group functions other than the name. Feel free to continue posting about CS opportunities and asking questions. It is a great community to be part of.

Thank you for all your efforts to positively impact students in NJ. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Hello fellow educators,

My name is Ben Isecke and I am the Acting President of the brand new CSTA New Jersey. CSTA in New Jersey used to consist of four chapters that handled both professional development and CS advocacy within the state, but as Daryl's recent email indicated, we have made a series of important shifts:

1. The four CSTA chapters in NJ (North, Central, South, and Southwest) have merged together into a single chapter, called CSTA New Jersey. We will do CS teacher outreach and professional development in New Jersey.

2. Advocacy work has been spun off into a separate organization called CS4NJ!

Below are notes about Membership, Elections, and important upcoming dates.

Membership

Being in this Google Group does not make you a CSTA member. To avoid this confusion, this Group, which has until now, been called “CSTANJ”, is being renamed to CS4NJ.

We will be sending a second email out to CSTA Members through MemberNova. If you don’t receive an email with the subject “You are now a member of the new CSTA New Jersey”, then you are not a CSTA member!

In order to join CSTA (which is free):

1. Go to the join page. You can choose the free Basic Membership or the paid CSTA+ option,

2. Fill out a bit about yourself and select New Jersey as your chapter.

3. You’re in!

Elections

We have already begun our first elections! Right now, we are seeking nominations -- please look out for an email from Lee Hayden, Acting Secretary, with the subject “CSTA New Jersey Elections”.

Only CSTA members will be able to run or vote in the election, so if you aren’t currently a member, please be sure to join by May14th.

Upcoming Dates

• Friday, May 14, 9am-3pm The NJ CS Summit will be hosted by Rutgers University.

• Tuesday, May 18, 7pm-8:15pm Our first Chapter Meeting will feature QubitXQubit, which is creating middle school and high school programs for Quantum Computing.

Hello fellow computer science educators-

As CSTANJ Acting President Ben Isecke indicated in his recent email, we have begun the process of electing CSTANJ officers for the 2021-2022 school year. We are now accepting nominations for these officers. Important information about the election timeline and process follows below, including a link to the nominating form.

• May 7: Nominations will be due by May 7th. To nominate yourself or someone else, please follow this link to the nominations form. We will be accepting nominations for and from people who are not currently CSTA+ members, although in order to run for any office, a nominee will need to be a CSTA+ member by May 7th.

• May 14: A link to the official ballot will be sent out to all CSTA+ members. Included will be a message from each candidate.

• May 21: Voting will end.

• May 26: An announcement will be made introducing the new officers.

Please consider participating in the election process and becoming a CSTA+ member if you are not one now.