Developing Youth Cyber Talent - Week 23 of Cyber Talk Radio

Developing Youth Cyber Talent - Week 23 of Cyber Talk Radio

Our guest this week was Debi Pfitzenmaier, founder, Youth Code Jam.

Show Summary

This past Sunday, March 5, episode 23 of Cyber Talk Radio hit the air on 1200 WOAI and iHeartRadio streaming. I was joined by Debi Pfitzenmaier, founder, Youth Code Jam, to discuss Youth Code Jam’s training programs and how the organization is inspiring kids to tell computers what to do by learning to code.

In the first half of the show, we kick off by having Debi give a quick introduction to Youth Code Jam. Debi founded the organization six years ago because she wanted to help her son learn how to code back when resources to do so were few and far between. The mission of Youth Code Jam is to inspire kids around code and help them build confidence in their skills and imagine themselves in the jobs of the future. Debi believes in the concept of exposing kids at a young age to code and keeping them engaged through middle and high school. They are already on track to to reach more than 2000 kids in 2017!

In the second half of the show, Debi tells us about a big event that Youth Code Jam puts on in the fall. The big community event will be held in September this year and Debi walks us through the different stations that kids can participate in at the event focusing on website design, app development, Python, Java, Scratch, and more! The Code Jam events are semi-unstructured, collaborative, creativity-inspiring, bring-your-own-laptop experiences for youth and their parents. The organization also offers various summer camps for students so definitely check out their website for more details on how to get your kids involved.

If you missed the episode live, watch the replay here!

Upcoming episode – Saturday nights from 11:00 p.m. to Midnight -

• Episode 24, March 11: CyberPatriot Program at Business Careers High School with Juan Guerrero of Business Careers High School
• Episode 25, March 19: Open Cloud Academy and the Cybersecurity Track with Deborah Carter and Johnny Carrera

Listen to a replay of this episode or past episodes on a Cyber Talk Radio Podcast stream. Replays are available via the below podcast services:

• Pocket Casts
• iTunes

Recent episodes – available to stream from our YouTube channel -

• Securing Cloud Data Services with Kenny Gorman at eventador.io
• Investigating Cyber Crimes with Ed Shaw, former FBI Agent and CIPP
• Cybersecurity Legislation with Congressman Will Hurd
• PCI Compliance with Ray Sims of Decypher Technologies
• Mobile App Development Security with Jason Straughan and Anton Domratchev of Grok Interactive
• Creating a “Culture of Security” with Dr. Greg White of University of Texas San Antonio
• Cybersecurity Trends for 2017 with Stephanie Ewing-Ottmers, cybersecurity evangelist at Delta Risk
• CyberPatriot Program at McNair Middle School with Mike Maldonado, CyberPatriot coach and technology facilitator at McNair Middle School

Have an idea for a topic or want to be a guest?

Contact Cyber Talk Radio via our request a topic or be a guest form.