Presenter Details

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Deanna Bledsoe
CEO and Founder
Kai Coders

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Website: https://www.kaicoders.com

Deanna uses her 20+ years of software development experience to teach kids coding. What started as an inventive way for members of her daughter’s Girl Scout troop to earn badges, turned into Kai Coders, a company focused on teaching coding to kids with the "spirit of Aloha", a welcoming, kind, and inclusive environment. She is committed to innovatively applying computer science into all subjects. Examples include incorporating invention and coding technology into a food drive, and a LEO (Love Each Other) installation incorporating music, art, and STEM into a schoolwide interactive display for Mental Health Awareness month.

Explore Deanna's Sessions

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Junkyard Wonders: Engineering Empathy and Imagination Through Coding


Ever wondered what happens when you hand kids a pile of “junk,” and some tech? Our students will show you! They’ll demo their interactive, trash-inspired creations, share how Junkyard Wonders inspired them, and offer take-home tips for weaving empathy, problem-solving, cross-curricular coding into everyday learning.

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Influencer disclosure:

This presenter indicated a “material connection” to a brand that includes a personal, family or employment relationship, or a financial relationship, such as the brand directly paying fees, covering travel or providing free or discounted products or services.

Company or companies with which presenter has a material connection: I am the Founder and CEO of Kai Coders LLC, a technology education services company that partners with local schools and community centers to deliver hands-on computer science and STEM programs. The student presenters in this session are enrolled Kai Coders students. Kai Coders operates the instructional program in which the student work was created. Our purpose in presenting at ISTELive is to allow students to showcase their original work and to share step-by-step instructional strategies with the education community for integrating English Language Arts, social-emotional learning, and technology through meaningful, project-based learning. This session is not intended to promote Kai Coders services or products. Student projects utilized Scratch, Makey Makey, and WagnerLabs SmartServo motors as instructional tools. We have no financial relationship, sponsorship, compensation, or material support from these companies, and their products are referenced solely as examples of tools used by students during the learning process.
Relationship: Paid travel to the event