Betting Big on Tech
16 October, 2017
In celebration of its 20th year in business, Solvaria, an information technology staffing firm, is calling upon its fellow members of Richmond’s tech community to give back to the future of our industry. Our goal is to raise $1,000 for each year we’ve been in business in order to make a $20,000 donation to CodeVA. CodeVA is a nonprofit organization that, through advocacy, teacher training, and direct student programs, partners with schools, parents, and communities to bring equitable computer science education to all of Virginia’s students. Virginia has over 36,000 unfilled tech and computer science jobs with a starting salary of $88,000, computer science education for all of Virginia’s students is a must if we are to remain the Digital Dominion.
Partnering with Big Top Entertainment, the Hippodrome will be transformed into a casino with blackjack, craps and roulette. Try your luck on the tables, or play it safe and enjoy food and drinks and good company. Whether you end up with one chip or 100, you’ll have the chance to win prizes from William Jeffrey’s Jewelers, Richmond Country Club and more.
Here’s what CodeVA can do with $20,000:
- Train half of an entire cohort of high school teachers.
- Teach elementary school teachers to train other teachers in computer science education methods and tools. Each teacher impacts up to 1,200 students, and $20,000 could impact 72,000 Virginia elementary school students.
- An entire summer of scholarships for afterschool programming, impacting up to 200 elementary school students – over half of which are girls.
- Expand summer programs out of school, providing programming for children using financial aid.
- Create a Computer Science Toolkit, available for an entire 13 school district region, providing teachers with classroom tools and materials that won’t impact a school’s budget.
- Outfit two entire classrooms with computers for afterschool programming and teacher training. Run the CodeVa Robotics Program for an entire year.
- Put “Virginia is for Computer Science Lovers” materials and literature in every classroom in Virginia.
We hope you’ll join us on November 9, 2017 to Bet Big on Technology at a charity casino night, hosted by Solvaria, with all proceeds and sponsorships going to CodeVa.
For directions and parking information at the event, visithttps://www.parkme.com/richmond-va-parking/the-hippodrome-theater