SummerTech and The Goldeneye Foundation
SummerTech and The Goldeneye Foundation have partnered to bring high-quality computer science education to the students of Oracabessa Bay through our Peer-Teaching program. The GoldenEye Foundation was established in 1995 by Chris Blackwell as the philanthropic arm of GoldenEye Resort (Based in Jamaica), to be a catalyst for the sustainable development for the Oracabessa community and its environs.
PARTNERING WITH SUMMERTECH’S CODITUM TO LEARN CODING
SummerTech and SummerTech’s Coditum are educational tech programs based in Weschester, New York. We offer coding instruction through a learning system that offers personal attention, small class sizes, and teaching tailored to each individual student.
SummerTech’s Coditum provides coding education to beginners, experts and to persons of all ages since 2002. Our award-winning program is the most comprehensive pre-college computer science program in the country.
Developing Jamaica’s 1st community based coding and computer science development program
GoldenEye Foundation (located in Jamaica) in partnership with Coditum/SummerTech (located in the US), will be collaborating to implement Jamaica’s 1st community based coding and App development program to benefit youths in the rural community of Oracabessa, Jamaica.
The Covid -19 pandemic has opened up our eyes to the importance of embracing the emerging digital culture, and increasing young persons knowledge of the use of digital tools and software that can enhance our lives and communities.
Youth unemployment has been listed as the #1 development challenge in the community of Oracabessa, based on research done by the Social Development Commission.
We believe that the development and implementation of this program will build the capacity and skillsets of youth in coding and App development, that wouldn’t otherwise be facilitated in the formal secondary schooling system.
Through our program we will be building the capacity of youths, to create opportunities for them to become digital entrepreneurs, and help to create solutions to respond to challenges faced by today’s society.
A Little Bit More About The Goldeneye Foundation
The GoldenEye Foundation was established by Chris Blackwell as the community resource arm of the GoldenEye Resort, to leverage partnerships and implement programs that results in the improvement in the quality of life of Oracabessa residents and its
environment. The Foundation’s investment in the people and natural environment of Oracabessa will benefit future generations of Oracabessa families, and support the healthy development of Oracabessa as a sustainable coastal town. Our programs target 3 main areas of impact:
- Positive and Engaged Youth
- Livelihood Development
- Marine Conservation
‘This coding and computer science development program is an important part of our Foundation’s overall response to the impact of the pandemic in our community’
Our Foundation had to be responsive to the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on Oracabessa. We developed short, medium and long term strategies to help the community to be more resilient to some of the challenges face by the community. These included:
- The health data showed that residents in the community were impacted by the virus, and persons with underlined illnesses died.
- Many students missed out on online classes because of not having digital tools to log on to losses.
- Many persons, especially in the tourism and hospitality and related sectors lost their jobs because of the impact the pandemic had on
international travel.
As a developing country, initiatives aimed at building capacity in the digital space will be important for creating young professionals to immerse themselves into the digital culture, and take advantage of the many opportunities that will allow them to earn a sustainable livelihood for themselves and their family
Program Milestones
- Completion of our Coding and App development lab
- Registering our first batch of participants
- Launching our program Summer 2022
- Students from Oracabessa Bay at SummerTech 2023!
- Hosting our first Summer Camp in Oracabessa Bay in August of 2023
Thank You for any consideration made to support our initiative!
For more information please contact:
Steven Fink
Founder – Coditum/SummerTech
[email protected]
http://www.summertech.net
Travis Graham
Foundation Manager – GoldenEye Foundation
[email protected]
http://www.goldeneyefoundation.org