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#include Fellowship Launch Kit

Welcome to the #include Fellowship Program!

Thank you for your interest in the #include Fellowship Program. This is your Launch Kit. Use it as a resource as you embark on a journey into the world of technology and computer science.

There are some starting ideas and tips here for #include projects, but you should take this opportunity to be creative. If you are passionate and excited about what you are doing, that will

shine through and prove impactful.

Best of luck, she++ & the #include Fellowship Team

TABLE OF CONTENTS: I. INTRODUCTION

1.  What is the #include Fellowship? 2.  When do I apply to attend the #include Summit? 3.  Highlights from last year’s #include Summit 4.  Obtaining funding for your initiative 5.  Who are #include Advisors and Industry Mentors? 6.  Questions, comments, and concerns

II. TECHNICAL RESOURCES III. BUILDING YOUR #include INITIATIVE

1.  What is a #include initiative? 2.  Bringing your passions into your initiative 3.  CS + Art 4.  CS + Community Service 5.  CS + Education 6.  CS + Environment 7.  CS + Medicine 8.  CS + Music

IV. FINDING COLLABORATORS

1.  Local Organizations 2.  Nonprofits

V. SPREADING THE WORD 1.  Media outlets

VI. LETTER FROM THE DIRECTORS

pg. 2 pg. 2 pg. 3 pg. 4 pg. 5 pg. 5 pg. 6 pg. 7 pg. 8 pg. 9 pg. 10 pg. 11 pg. 12 pg. 13 pg. 14 pg. 15 pg. 15 pg. 16 pg. 17

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I. INTRODUCTION

What is the #include Fellowship Program?

The #include Fellowship is designed to help you accomplish two things: create your #include initiative and learn more about engineering and the tech industry.

1.  #include Initiative

Your #include Initiative can be anything that promotes computer science or technology. For example, you could start a robotics club, teach other students to code using an educational tool that you create, or start a bioinformatics speaker series at your school. You will be matched with a #include Advisor, a college student who will be your mentor for the duration of the program. You will also be matched with a #include Industry Mentor, an industry professional who can guide you as you plan your initiative.

2.  Learning about technology

The #include Fellowship does not require you to have any prior technical experience. However, we encourage you to use this opportunity to begin or continue exploring the field of technology. We hope that you will be a participant in – as well as an organizer of – your #include initiative! Later in this Launch Kit, you will find more information and resources to get started with programming and engineering.

When do I apply to attend the #include Summit?

The eligibility requirements to apply to attend the #include Summit are as follows:

• Currently enrolled in high school, or home-schooled at the high school level, with the intention of receiving a high school diploma or completing the GED within the next four years. • Reside in the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, or other U.S. territories. • Planning to pursue further study at a post-secondary institution.

If you meet these requirements, you are invited to apply to attend the #include Summit, which will take place in Spring 2015. Application: The application form will be available by mid-December 2014 on the she++ website. You will be asked to write a short essay or record a video in which you discuss what community outreach project you did, why you did it, and why you think it was impactful. You will also be asked to submit a recommendation letter from a teacher, community member, or anyone else who can speak to your effort and dedication to the #include program.

The application deadline for the Summit is February 15, 2015 at 11:59 pm PST.

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Fellows met… Sheryl Sandberg, Jocelyn Goldfein, Alan Eustace & Gina Bianchini

Tours of Facebook and Google

#include Fellowship Celebration at Microsoft

Computer Security Workshop Led by Stanford Professor Dan Boneh

Demonstration at the Stanford Virtual Reality Lab

and listen to Jocelyn Goldfein's amazing and"inspirational keynote speech. So many people were interested in my work and offered to help me expand my initiative to a national scale next year.”

-Pooja Chandrashekar, 2014 #include Fellow

“[#include] gave us a chance to interact with leading technologists"

2014 #INCLUDE SUMMIT

Curious about what happens at the #include Summit? Check out these highlights from last year!

Our 2014 #include Fellows at Facebook with Sheryl Sandberg.

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Obtaining funding for your initiative

If your #include project looks like it’s going to require some funding,

here are some ideas that can help.

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Who are #include Advisors and Industry Mentors?

A #include Advisor is a college student who is there to answer any questions, help with your projects, and give you advice. A #include Industry Mentor is an industry professional who is there to not only guide you, but also to connect you to the tech industry and help you form any connections you may need for your initiative. As a participant in the #include Fellowship Program, you will be paired with a #include Advisor and a #include Industry Mentor. You should communicate with your advisor and industry mentor via phone or video chat at least two times a month for the duration of the program to discuss your progress, talk about your goals, and troubleshoot any problems you are having. Also, please use your advisor and industry mentor as resources through the #include Summit application process. Feel free to use your #include Advisor and #include Industry Mentor as helpful resources, regardless of whether you are working on your #include initiative, filling out your #include Summit application, or just talking about what it’s like to be part of the tech space.

Questions, Comments, and Concerns

The #include Fellowship website:

sheplusplus.org/include

Frequently Asked Questions:

sheplusplus.org/include/#faq

Direct questions, comments, or concerns: Reynis Vazquez-Guzman (reynis@stanford.edu)

#include Fellowship Co-Director

Priya Ganesan (priyag@stanford.edu) #include Fellowship Co-Director

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II. TECHNICAL RESOURCES

How to get started in programming

There are a variety of online resources out there that can help you learn the programming language of your choice. When learning a new programming language, make sure to practice a little bit each day to keep your skills fresh. Don’t worry about memorizing how to do something in that language, because not even professional programmers have all of the Java/ C++/Python syntax and libraries memorized! If you get stuck on how to do something, Google it or ask your #include advisor! (Stackoverflow.com will probably have the answer to your question). If it seems hard at times, just remember to keep at it and think of all the amazing things you can accomplish with programming!  

Online Resources

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III. BUILDING YOUR #INCLUDE INITIATIVE

What’s a #include initiative?

A #include initiative is any sort of structured event, activity, or group designed to spread awareness or knowledge about tech or tech education in your community.

For inspiration, check out the initiatives of the 2014 #include Fellows at

sheplusplus.org/include2014.

What resources are present in your

community?

Check out what sort of resources your community already has. Does your library have a computer class? Is there an engineering lab in your city? Take a look at who uses those resources and think about how existing programs could possibly be improved or expanded upon.

Finding your niche

Figure out what resources your community lacks. What events or resources do you wish were present in your community? Or are there resources within your community that some people don’t have access to? Find a need, and address it with your initiative!

Picking a target audience

Another important part of your initiative is selecting your target audience. Do you want to work with elementary school students? High school students? Senior citizens? Think about if there is a group in your community that could benefit from learning about tech. Maybe the elementary school’s after-school program could use some simple engineering activities, or the nonprofit down the road could use a web development class to learn how to take their efforts to the web. Once you have an audience, you can customize your initiative to meet their needs!

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Bringing your Passions into your Initiative

Other than tech, what do you find yourself passionate about? Maybe it’s sports, or songwriting, or video games. Regardless of what your outside hobbies and passions are, consider sharing your excitement about them with the rest of the world through your #include initiative! Computer science and engineering are becoming increasingly interdisciplinary fields. Nearly every other field now utilizes technology in some form. We’d love to see your take on the interdisciplinary nature of CS through an initiative that combines your interests with CS and tech outreach. In the next several pages, you’ll find ideas and inspiration for building a truly interdisciplinary initiative. While we’ve explored just a few different fields, feel free to look into whatever field you want. Be bold, be creative, and show everyone that computer science isn’t just about typing at a keyboard!

Interested in a purely CS/tech initiative?

No worries! While we love seeing new applications of CS, engineering and coding fundamentals are the foundation for a future in technology and are extremely important initiatives to have in your community! If you’d like to start a coding club, AP Computer Science class, robotics camp, science fair, speaker series, or anything of that sort, check out last year’s launch kit at sheplusplus.org/launchKit1314.pdf for step-by-step instructions and advice on getting started!

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{ CS + Art } Technology is a powerful tool for visual and performing arts. Start an

initiative to combine CS with design, fashion, film, or even choreography!

TEACH

Applications like Photoshop and Illustrator are dynamic and useful tools for visual arts and photography. Teach a class series to help other students who share an interest in graphic design learn a few new skills!

ANIMATE

Start a Pixar or Dreamworks at your school! Form a club for students interested in film and animation and start making cinematic magic happen. Consider submitting your work to the FIRST Robotics Safety Animation Contest or other film festivals!

SHOWCASE

Host an expo featuring projects that combine art and technology. Exhibit student artists from your school or invite professional artists and technologists. For an example, check out Silicon Valley Contemporary Art +Tech.

DESIGN

Get acquainted with fashion design and 3-D modeling software and teach a week-long course on it! If you have access to a 3-D printer, think about 3-D printing jewelry and other accessories. Check out shapeways, a 3-D design marketplace where users can buy and sell gadgets, art, and home décor.

GET INSPIRED!

danceroom Spectroscopy is an award-winning performance art project that interprets people as energy fields, allowing them to use movement to influence graphics and sound.

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CHANGE

Organize speaker events that generate excitement about and interest in Computer Science so that we can work towards increasing diversity within the field. This industry is definitely in need of a culture shift, and encouraging people from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds to pursue tech is a great step in the right direction!

{ CS + Community Service}

BRIDGE Bridge the technology gap and host workshops that teach essential computer science skills to members of your local community and to people who otherwise would not have access to that technology. Examples can include involvement with nursing homes, homeless shelters, special-needs institutions, and under-funded areas and schools.

ASSIST

Work with a local nonprofit organization that is using out-of-date technology. Revamp, update, or design their website and hold training sessions to teach others how to carry on your work in the future. This could, in turn, help this nonprofit impact even more people!

Lending a helping hand always makes the world a better place. There are plenty of opportunities to integrate technology into outreach or

philanthropy efforts and impact more people!

GET INSPIRED!

Estella’s Brilliant Bus is a mobile computer lab and classroom dedicated to providing underserved communities with access to technology and tutoring.

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{ CS + Education } CS is helping to spread education worldwide and revolutionizing the way we

learn at home. Share your passion for teaching and learning by bringing CS into your local classroom or even across the globe!

EXPOSE

Introduce your community to local and online resources (see pg. 6) for beginning programmers. Start an outreach program at your school or local elementary and middle schools. Consider volunteering as a tutor or mentor –– coding is often intimidating for those just getting started!

INTEGRATE

Develop education technology (or creative applications of existing technologies) and encourage local schools to integrate it into their curricula. Create tools to encourage multimedia use, collaborative learning, and different learning styles. Some currently widely used tools include Socrative, Prezi, Quizlet, and Google Drive.

SHARE

Bring tech resources and technical training to under-resourced areas through fundraising and/or mentoring. Reach out locally or even internationally (via video calls)!

ENRICH

Raise funds to improve tech resources and teaching tools in your schools, other local schools, and local organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs. Useful learning technologies include public computers, projectors, and SMART boards.

ENHANCE

Work with a CS teacher at your school to re-imagine the curriculum. Keep in mind programming principles, modern CS, and its wide range of applications in a variety of fields.

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REACH OUT

Reach out to your city’s park and trail committees and see if you can

increase the efficiency of the software they are using for daily

operations. Hold a class to educate everyone about the

updated technologies!

{ CS + Environment} ANALYZE

Collect samples from your environment and see if you can

access lab equipment/software to form insights on your

community’s health. Put a team together, show everyone how to

use lab tools, and share your findings with the community!

DISCOVER

Start a team project on environmental health! Utilize sensor technology and the data it generates. Examples of projects include monitoring contaminants in the water or tracking animal movements to understand how deforestation affects migration patterns.

TEACH

Teach classes that combine tech and the environment – for example, digital conservation photography and photo editing! Utilize photos, videos, and discoveries you’ve made in an effort to generate environmental awareness.

Environmental scientists use technology every day to make

measurements and predictions about the health of the Earth. Get involved

in making our world a greener one through tech!

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{ CS + Medicine}

INNOVATE

Get involved with your local university or hospital. Work towards understanding the current software and imaging tools utilized for your favorite areas of Biology. Research ways to make those better, and start a team to work on the project!

DISCUSS

Bring in a speaker from your local clinic or a local biotech company to discuss the many applications of Computer Science in the medical field.

CONNECT

Start a group that works to increase access to clinics/doctors via online interfaces! Nowadays, especially in underdeveloped countries, mobile technologies can play a huge role in connecting rural areas to quality, timely medical attention.

DESIGN

Develop learning tools for people who are studying medicine, biology, and chemistry, and be creative. A doctor in Paris recently used the Oculus Rift to create virtual surgery simulations for his medical students!

Numerous life-saving treatments have come out of technology innovation in the last several decades, such as robotic prosthetics, advanced surgical techniques, and much more. This exciting field is

expanding quickly - jump in and see how you can apply CS to the next big thing in medicine!

GET INSPIRED!

Folding@home is a computing project for disease research at Stanford. Its protein-folding simulations are used by scientists to learn more about diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s.

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{ CS + Music } Musicians can make awesome, unexpected melodies using innovative

technologies and algorithms. The possibilities are endless for applying CS knowledge to performance, composition, and more.

ORCHESTRATE

Music has always been at the cutting edge of technology. Introduce people to using modern tools and software as a means of creating music in a conventional musical context by forming a laptop orchestra group in your school or community. (Look up the SLOrk or “The DIY Orchestra of the Future” TED talk for inspiration!)

TEACH

Various technological tools can be used to create and edit music. If you know are familiar with synthesizers, sequencers, or audio editing software like Ardour, teach a class to help other music-lovers get started!

AUTOMATE

Form a robotics group or start an extension of an existing one, focused on creating music-making robots. Make robots that play real instruments or create their own sounds. Check out Z-Machines, a band composed solely of three robots with a collective 78 fingers and 22 arms!

“The history of music is inevitably also the story of the development of technology. From the player piano to the vinyl disc, from reel-to-reel tape to the cassette, from the CD to the digital download, these formats and devices changed not only the way music was consumed, but the very way artists created it.” - Edgar Bronfman, Jr.

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The best projects are not accomplished alone. Try to find people, groups or organizations that can help you reach your goals. Are there other people

who share a similar mission? See if you can collaborate, combine forces, or seek advice. Here are some ideas to get you started.

REGIONAL

Colleges and professors Local non-profits City government

Research or industry labs in your area Local newspapers or magazines

COMMUNITY

High school teachers Friends’ parents

Community centers Nearby libraries or librarians

LARGE SCALE NON-PROFITS

Check if these organizations have offices, programs, or representatives in your area. Reach out via email and ask for support or mentorship. See if they can point you in the right direction or put

you in contact with others that may be able to help. SOME IDEAS:

Girls Who Code Black Girls Code

Code 2040 NCWIT

IV. FINDING COLLABORATORS

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We want your initiative to reach as many people as possible, so be sure to think about ways in which you can let your community know about your

initiative. Make sure people know how they can get involved!

LOCAL MEDIA

Reach out to local newspapers, local television stations, radio stations, and magazines. Ask if they are interested in sharing a story about the impact of your work.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Utilize the social media sites you are familiar with like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram.

BLOG

Write a blog post or article and publish it online. Think of different ways that you can reach people and the type of audience you want to address. You can post on a personal or community blog, publish to sites such as Medium, or ask a school newspaper to include an article about your work.

WORD OF MOUTH

Sometimes the best the way to get the word out is by letting your friends know what you are working on and asking them to tell all their friends!

FLYERS

Post flyers around your school, community centers, and libraries. Ask teachers and community members to forward the flyer to their contacts. Contact local businesses for their help in spreading the word.

V. SPREAD THE WORD

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If you have any questions, contact the #include Fellowship Co-Directors Reynis Vazquez-Guzman (reynis @stanford.edu) and Priya Ganesan

(priyag@stanford.edu).

Follow us on twitter @sheplusplus Like us on facebook.com/sheplusplus

Sign up for our mailing list at sheplusplus.org

Hey there! You’ve reached the end of this Launch Kit. We hope that you now have an idea of how to start your #include initiative and are excited to embark on this journey. We are so excited to bring back the #include Fellowship Program for a second year. At last year’s #include Summit, we were both amazed by the phenomenal and creative work of the 2014 #include Fellows. They exposed an incredible number of students to CS and technology and demonstrated great passion for their work. The energy and motivation of students like you inspired us to play a bigger role in organizing the #include Fellowship Program this year. We want to promote a movement of student leaders who are passionate about increasing access to technology for others. Despite how much you may or may not know about technology, take this as an opportunity to learn along with the people you want to impact. You don’t have to be a coding expert in order to make a difference through technology. We are here to support you as you take on this challenge. Make sure you use your college advisor and industry mentor for guidance, and keep us updated on your progress! We would love to hear about your successes, failures and anything in between. Also, make sure you join our Facebook group to connect with other #include Fellowship Program participants! Good luck and have fun! Reynis and Priya, #include Co-Directors

V. LETTER FROM THE DIRECTORS