CENG Launches Junior Mentor Program and Donates New Chromebook at Monta Loma

Junior Mentor Program

Helping his classmates figure out which commands to use for loops and what if statements, Deven Merced shares with them his computer science knowledge. Deven is one of the two junior mentors at Monta Loma Elementary. He first started taking Scratch with the course offered by the Computer Engineers of the Next Generation club (CENG) last year and learned to create his own rocket ship and maze projects. He also took the course a second time to enhance his knowledge and make more fun projects. Deven has shown leadership potential and displayed aptitude in computer programming and problem-solving skills, and he and Allie Becker received the Outstanding Student Award in March. Both students were invited to be junior mentors. Passionate to share their knowledge with others, they took on the challenge with enthusiasm and since then have become more approachable influences that keep the group positive. When asked how he felt about being a junior mentor, Deven replied, "I have learned that it's fun and it feels good to teach other students how to code. I've also learned that it is rewarding to see other students be glad with what they have learned in class."

CENG Donates New Chromebook

After discovering Monta Loma needs three new Chromebooks for their resource teachers, we began to sell duct tape wallets in the Community Yard Sale in May at the Rengstorff Park and raised $187. These funds were used to buy a new Chromebook which will be given to one of the resource teachers. CENG's new goal this year is to raise enough funds for two more Chromebooks for the school.

Moving forward, CENG plans to keep on expanding the curriculum and bringing more advanced classes such as Javascript and Python to students.

Computer Engineers of the Next Generation (CENG) Club is founded by a group of dedicated high school students who want to improve computer literacy of elementary school students by offering free after-school computer programming classes to disadvantaged communities. CENG has offered courses in the past at Santa Rita Elementary, Monta Loma Elementary, and St. Athanasius Parish. For more information regarding CENG, please check out our website cengclass.org.