Thanks to a generous $25,000 grant from Meta, AIM will deliver its Youth in Tech program for students of the Papillion La Vista Community School District. near Meta’s data center in Sarpy County. Youth in Tech sparks curiosity and builds foundational tech skills during critical interest-forming ages to lay the foundation for a stronger, more diverse tech community for years to come. Through fun, hands-on activities—such as drone piloting, 3D printing, robotics, and basic coding—Youth in Tech cultivates long-term interest in technology and encourages inquisitiveness about tech careers.

AIM Code School, a Nebraska State Department of Education accredited school, launched two technical training cohorts shortly after the new year. First, its Foundations of Technology cohort helped participants navigate through the basics of technology including: networking, IT infrastructure, at- home troubleshooting and WordPress site creation. The instructor facilitated the class in a Spanish/English bilingual format, making this AIM’s first bilingual course offering, which received positive feedback from students.

AIM’s popular Foundations of Web Development certified participants all with refugee status. Students learned to produce front-end code necessary for website creation. Additionally, this skill set allows students to begin creating work samples that can be used to network with and apply to local tech companies. AIM’s community partner, International Council for Refugees and Immigrants, connected these participants with AIM. This class included students from Afghanistan, Burkina Faso and Tajikistan. 

Throughout June, AIM’s College and Tech Access program hosted 17 middle and high school students from Omaha and Council Bluffs school districts to participate in the Google Code Next Summer Academy.

Students were able to engage in an intensive learning program focused on front-end programming skills including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This group of students submitted final projects featuring their own e-commerce websites. The websites are impressive with multiple built-out tabs, links, and other design features.

AIM has completed year two of a three-year grant funded by Google, which brings front-end coding skills to the fingertips of college-bound students. The curriculum is fully developed by Google Programmers, called Googlers. Students were able to interact with local Google employees throughout the duration of the Summer Academy held at AIM.

Six local professionals graduated from the AIM Callers to Coders program on Friday. 

This was an opportunity that Physicians Mutual provided for their employees. 

Emily Matis, director at Tech Education at AIM Institute, said, “The people that you have are the people that you need to invest in.” 

The year-long program was held entirely virtual due to the global coronavirus pandemic. But, this helped students to remain successfully working full time at Physicians Mutual, while they took modular based classes at AIM! 

Nathan Coberly, Vice President of Enterprise Architecture Development at Physicians Mutual and AIM board member, addressed the crowd at the virtual graduation ceremony. He explained how AIM helped frame up the opportunity to upskill Physicians Mutual customer service agents into IT workers. “AIM has been with us from day one, every step of the way,” he said. 

Coberly also spoke highly of the graduates, noting this was not an easy task. 

“I’m so excited for the opportunities that lie ahead for our six participants,” Coberly said. “This is really a beginning for them now, as they consider different opportunities at Physicians Mutual to leverage their training and affect these career transitions. I’m already excited about what’s coming together.”

The Callers to Coders program helps remove barriers to entry for technology careers. The curriculum participants studied included: Computing Foundations; Introduction to Programming with Python; Business Intelligence; Foundations of Web Development; and Programming Intermediate (Java). 

Before the graduation ceremony started, participants were working together to code, and solve problems. During the graduation ceremony, students shared what they were taking away from the course, everything from learning to code, better communication skills, talented teachers, and formalizing mentorship relationships.

The graduates include: Jasmine Wainwright-Henry, Nicole Perry, Catherine “Cat” Wilber, Marissa Homan, Charley Greenfield, and Alexander “Alex” Mares. Each student had the option to speak, and they all did. 

Marissa Homan said, “I feel thankful! I’m excited to utilize the new technical skills I learned. We were all able to follow along with what they showed us.” Catherine “Cat” Wilber said, “I had an absolute ball. I learned so much!”

Lead instructor Vanessa Kasun added, “I wish you every happiness. Masters and experts don’t know everything.” She added a quote from Star Wars Jedi Master Yoda, “Much to learn you still have.” 

To discover more about AIM Code School, visit our website or contact Emily Matis. To learn more about AIM’s custom training opportunities, contact Tony Veland, Business Development Director. 

Congratulations to the graduates!

The Omaha STEM Ecosystem and AIM Institute announced the launch of the online STEM Community Platform, presented by Cox. The mission of the STEM Community Platform, stemplatform.org, connects youth, parents, educators and professionals to an online hub of high-quality STEM programs, resources and events in the Greater Omaha area. The website is the first of its kind in Omaha to have a comprehensive list of STEM programs all in one place.

“Nebraska is currently faced with a critical shortfall of professionals in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math,” said Julie Sigmon, Director for the Omaha STEM Ecosystem. “In order to grow the region’s talent pipeline, we must provide opportunities needed to be successful in learning, scientific thinking, and examining potential career paths. The site would not be possible without our generous sponsors, Cox and Facebook, and our partnership with AIM Institute, which is fueling the technology behind the new website.”

“AIM is so proud to be part of this effort to strengthen the Omaha area STEM community and program pipeline,” said Kandace Miller, Ph.D, President and CEO of the AIM Institute. “Partnerships like these are crucial to building a strong, diverse tech and STEM community.”

“We understand the important role STEM plays in the development of our youth. This platform provides access to hundreds of programming options and learning opportunities for everyone in our community, we couldn’t be more pleased to be a part of this new learning ecosystem,” said Kim Rowell, Cox Vice President, Omaha.

“STEM skills are important for the next generation of the workforce to thrive here in Nebraska and across the country,” said Matt Sexton, Community Development Regional Manager at Facebook’s Papillion Data Center. “We are elated to help make this innovative resource a reality for students and families in our community.”

Together, and through the STEM Community Platform, education, government, nonprofit and business entities can help the Omaha STEM Ecosystem create a robust and vibrant STEM community that is equitable for all.

The website offers easy functionality for the user to find kids camps, career listings in STEM career fields and informational resources for elementary aged children to adults. There also is an online quiz available to help narrow areas of interest. Organizations and community members now have the ability to view and add STEM resources, opportunities and events by visiting stemplatform.org.

Founding and supporting community partners that made the STEM Community Platform a reality include, Cox, Facebook, AIM Institute, Clarkson College, CyncHealth, First National Bank of Omaha, Iowa West Foundation, Nebraska Department of Education, Nonprofit Association of the Midlands, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and University of Nebraska at Omaha.