It has been a BUSY summer at the RAYTC.

First, I want to thank everyone who has donated laptops, equipment and their hard-earned money to our fundraiser. In just 6 months, we have provided 62 students at 4 high schools with refurbished laptops and home internet access.

We now have a mobile computer lab! If your club, library or school wants to host an hour of code or an afternoon of electronics, please contact us! The cost is always free for students.

Our newest group is launching this September at the Boys and Girls Club! We are starting with just six students, every second Wednesday from 5-7 pm. We are searching for six volunteers each month so that every student receives individual attention. You DO NOT need to have expertise, just a desire to model life-long learning. If you have a couple hours to spare, please sign up for a session (or two) - no need to commit for the whole year. Please email if you have questions:
www.volunteersignup.org/XHA4M

For those of you that might be interested in starting a tech club at your school, I am presenting a "getting started" session at the Rochester teachers' Professional Development day on August 21st from 12:30-3:30. Once again, no experience required! We'll have mentors and students from existing clubs talk about their experiences and answer your questions.
https://pdexpress.rochester.k12.mn.us/pdexpress

If you can't make the session or want to jump right in, there are many options. The following programs already have several chapters throughout the Rochester Area, so there is a lot of support available:

First Lego/Robotics has options for 4 different age categories and signups for 2018/2019 are open already. This year's topic is SPACE! 
https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/fll 

Technovation is a business and app-development competition for girls in middle and high school. It generally runs from January through April. Visit their webpage to find out more:
 http://technovationmn.org/ 

Of course, there are many other options and we are here to support you! If you would like to start a club or have questions about mentoring, volunteers, grants, locations, or anything else, please contact us or email me directly at [email protected]

Be safe and have fun!
John Bartucz
Rochester Are Youth Tech Community

p.s. if you have exciting news that you'd like to share with the community, please let me know and I'll include it in the next newsletter. Did I miss someone? Forward this email so they can subscribe.

A huge THANK YOU to our major sponsors for 2018: The Rotary Clubs of Rochester, The Rochester Public Schools Foundation and Dynamic Recycling