Lessons Learned from Developing and Implementing a High School CS Bridge Program

Michael J. Johnson, Christopher Lynnly Hovey, Sherri Sanders, Cedric Stallworth, Ryan Mendes, Andrea G. Parker, Adrian Choi, Sherilyn Francis, Darley Sackitey, Sonia Chernova, Maithili Patel, Xiang Zhi Tan, Rosa I. Arriaga, Britney L. Johnson, Betsy DiSalvo

Abstract: This experience report describes the design and implementation of the BridgeUP STEM program, which connects women and gender non-binary individuals from historically underrepresented racial or ethnic groups to learning opportunities in computing subfields. Faculty, staff, and students from Georgia Tech collaborated with NCWIT to provide participants computer programming and research experience. We describe the program and present reflections from the facilitation team to capture knowledge and advice on successful and unsuccessful strategies for developing an effective bridge program. We provide a summary of lessons learned by those involved and conclude with guiding questions to help others in designing successful programs.