Apply for Scratch Education Collaborative Program (Cohort 4)

Deadline Date: March 15, 2024

Donor Name: Lifelong Kindergarten Group

Grant Size: Not Available

https://sip.scratch.mit.edu/sec/

The Lifelong Kindergarten Group has announced the Scratch Education Collaborative Program to increase access and eliminate gaps that have limited creative computing opportunities for educators and students in traditionally underrepresented communities.

SEC Vision

• Realign the resources of the Scratch Foundation toward a greater focus on serving marginalized communities and local organizations that support them with creative computing opportunities
• Create a self-sustaining network and models for equity-centered creative computing resources and learning experiences

What is the Scratch Education Collaborative?

• The Scratch Education Collaborative (SEC) is a program that supports and engages participating organizations from around the world in a two-year, collaborative cohort experience to strengthen their organization’s understanding and implementation of equitable creative coding using Scratch and ScratchJr
• SEC participants engage in a series of collaborative learning experiences that are co-developed and co-facilitated by Scratch and SEC partner organizations as they work to create a self-sustaining community of practice and establish models for equity-centered creative coding resources.

What is expected of participating organizations?

• SEC participating organizations will:
  • Participate in monthly, synchronous learning experiences, including workshops, chats, and 1:1 check-ins with Scratch team members to help increase their impact and build global connections.
  • Create at least one original or a remixed creative learning or creative coding resource that will be shared online by the Scratch team.
  • Connect, collaborate, and co-design with SEC peer organizations. They encourage and support SEC organizations imagining, creating, and sharing their work with the communities they serve as a way to deepen their impact and scale their work.
  • Engage in knowledge sharing with Scratch, including participating in case studies, surveys, and testimonials.

What are the benefits of being an SEC Participant?

• Access to a global network of thought-leaders and cutting-edge organizations in the creative coding space.
• Exclusive sessions with experts from Scratch, MIT, Lifelong Kindergarten, and more.
• Access to the SEC community where hundreds of operators, entrepreneurs and coding educators share ideas, resources and actively collaborate.
• Access to funding opportunities.

Eligibility Criteria

• Non-governmental/nonprofit organizations, public schools, school districts, nonprofit universities and colleges, and other government entities are all welcome to apply. For-profit institutions are not eligible to participate.
• Social enterprise organizations can apply, but will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine their alignment with the SEC vision and availability to provide free programming or their focus communities.
• Organizations must align with the SEC Vision, be currently using Scratch and/or ScratchJr, and have the capacity to support the implementation of equitable creative coding activities in programming that engages marginalized and historically underrepresented communities.
• English is the primary language used for SEC events and communications. However, interpretation services are available upon request
• 1-2 representatives per organization is required. Being an SEC Participant organization requires a commitment from, at a minimum, one representative, as well as the Executive Director/CEO/or other administrator at the highest level of organizational leadership.

For more information, visit Lifelong Kindergarten Group