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James Forde of Stamford is a 7th grade science teacher at Cloonan Middle School in Stamford and has served as the district's STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) professional.
He joins eight other individuals from across the country chosen by the White House to be acknowledged Jan. 26 as “Champions of Change for Computer Science Education.”
The event will be live streamed at 1p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 26 on the White House website.
Forde was awarded Teacher of the Year in the district and is an active advocate of STEM education. He is involved in developing STEM curricula, planning a city-wide STEM festival, providing STEM professional development, and promoting STEM education.
He also curates a popular STEM education Twitter feed, @stemnetwork, and sponsors both the Computer Coding Club and the 3D printing club at the middle school.
Individuals were selected by the White House for their leadership and innovation in expanding access to computer science education and for inspiring the next generation to use 21st century tools to better their communities.
Last year Obama became the first president to write a line of code, and in his State of the Union address, he issued a broad call to action to expand computer science across the nation’s K-12 classrooms. Thanks to the efforts of teachers, parents, state and local officials, educators, philanthropists and CEOs, there is a rapidly growing movement to give every child the opportunity to learn computer science.
The "Champions" program will feature remarks by Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett; Acting Secretary for the United States Department of Education John King; Chief Technology Officer of the United States Megan Smith; actress and director Gillian Jacobs; and co-founder and executive director of Amy Poehler’s “Smart Girls,” Meredith Walker.
The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White House to feature individuals doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities.
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