Past work

In April 2019, through cold calls and word of mouth (practically the only way a high schooler gets anything done), we collected 13 used computers, reset them and disinfected them with alcohol.

The computers arrived safely in Cambodia and a computer class opened. A group of friends from a computer academy, with a shared passion for coding and robotics, had started doing something beyond going to competitions and winning awards.

We raise money through coding classes, and we pass it on. Here is where it has gone:

• Ilboru Secondary School, TanzaniaFunds to restore a computer lab with 20 computers.
• Lokori School, Turkana, Kenya12 tablet PCs, 2,000 masks and 40 tons of food (beans).
• Tumbi Primary School, Tanzania500 copies of the Swahili book Jihadhari na Mbu! (Beware of Mosquitoes!), in collaboration with Books International.
• Missionary Park in Kibaha, Tanzania, and Campong Chiang IT School, CambodiaFunds for IT education.
• Dolphine Smart Daycare, Tanzania4 tablet PCs with an educational app.

In April 2020, as COVID-19 got worse in the United States, face masks became scarce. We knew we had to do something.

Luckily, our team had placed 3rd internationally at the American Computer Science League All-Star competition, and one of the prizes was a 3D printer. We had been printing a dinosaur and an airplane. Now we used it to produce 20 to 30 medical face shields a day for the front line of COVID-19.

By July 15, 2020 we had made over 500 face shields. They went to Northridge Hospital (100 face shields), California Hospital Medical Center (143 face shields and 90 masks), Laurel Canyon Dialysis (100 face shields and 50 masks) and the Foster Children's Resource Center.

High-school volunteers cut, sewed, wrapped and distributed masks, and made ear savers to make them comfortable to wear. By July 2020 we reported more than 1,000 masks. Jason and friends alone had sewed about 500 masks and made 100 ear savers.

They went to hospitals and to the Foster Children's Resource Center. The California Hospital Medical Center and Laurel Canyon Dialysis sent thank-you messages.

Entering the foster care system can be scary and stressful. Children are often moved from one home to another in a crisis, sometimes with only the clothes they are wearing.

The Thanksgiving before, we had held a coding and robotics camp for foster children. When the pandemic came we wondered how they were doing. So we made gift boxes. We handed out 100 gift boxes in front of the Foster Children's Resource Center, holding masks, face shields, face films, ear savers, bracelets and key chains, along with letters from our members.

The boxes also held 100 ear savers, 100 bracelets and 50 key chains. In the letters, our members wrote things like: "You are valuable, and don't ever let anyone get in the way of telling you otherwise." (Catherine Cho)

An awareness campaign built around three habits, shared as #3W #WWW #WearMask #WashHands #WideSpacing, about how South Korea kept its COVID-19 infection rate down.

Our previous website also described these initiatives. We are collecting their full stories, and will move them to Our Work when they are ready.

• BigBangA student-led innovation and leadership program connecting high-school communities through technology initiatives.
• Cyinno Hacks (Cyber Innovation Hackathon)A global hackathon program connecting youth to solve real-world challenges through innovation and technology.
• GenAI InitiativePrograms introducing generative AI tools and digital creativity skills to students and communities.