SparkFun Joins RAFT Symposium's List of Faculty for 2012

Five-day workshop gives teachers strategies to help students acquire 21st-century skills

News provided by

Jun 12, 2012, 09:05 ET

BOULDER, Colo., June 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SparkFun Electronics (www.sparkfun.com), a provider of parts, knowledge and passion for electronics creation, is proud to announce its inclusion in the 2012 RAFT (Resource Area For Teaching) Symposium in Denver, Colorado. The five-day teacher training event, which runs July 10-14, is an interactive opportunity for educators to learn strategies that effectively combine hands-on activities and curricula in the classroom.

SparkFun's Educational Outreach Coordinator Lindsay Craig will join faculty from several Denver museums, the University of Colorado Denver, youth environmental non-profit EarthForce and digital tech learning company Myers Learning. The classes offered by SparkFun will include seminars on conductive playdough, breadboards and components, e-textiles, and computer programming and embedding using SparkFun's ProtoSnap product line.

"The partnership between SparkFun and RAFT is a natural progression of SparkFun's effort to expand students' exposure to electronics," Craig said. "Many of the projects based on SparkFun technology need a mechanical or craft side to compliment the electrical and computer programming aspects. RAFT is the perfect partner resource for SparkFun to help any Denver area teachers interested in guiding their classroom into the DIY world."

RAFT provides a unique environment for teachers to discuss and discover various ways students can be encouraged to push the boundaries of their world through experiential learning. Denver's RAFT is a local extension of a national organization with the goal of providing often overlooked or difficult to coordinate resources for teachers in K-12 school systems.

For more information about RAFT Colorado and the symposium, please visit www.raftcolorado.org. To learn more about SparkFun's Department of Education, visit www.learn.sparkfun.com.

About SparkFun Electronics
Founded in 2003, SparkFun shares its passion by providing parts, knowledge, and innovation for those looking to explore the world of embedded electronics. It helps anyone discover their inner inventor and enables individuals to create their own electronics projects.

SparkFun currently offers more than 1,800 products, ranging from simple components, like capacitors and resistors, to GPS units and Bluetooth modules. The company employs 140 people and is based in Boulder, Colorado.

Find SparkFun on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo and Google+.

Press Contact:
Jeremy Douglas
Catapult PR-IR
303-581-7760 ext. 16
[email protected]

SOURCE SparkFun Electronics