Can miners learn to code? Blue collar workers remake their lives.

"Can miners learn to code?" South Fayette School District, with generous support from the Grable Foundation and the South Fayette Foundation for Excellence will answer that question as part of the InspireSeries which is designed to enlighten all attendees about computer science and STEAM careers. We feel certain that Bit Source will inspire everyone with the courageous story of how coal miners from Appalachia, facing the toughest challenge of their lives, attempt to remake their livelihood transforming from coal miners to computer programmers.

This event open to the public will tell how Bit Source, software development company in Eastern Kentucky, and Mined Minds, a non profit organization in SWPA trains unemployed miners in Greene, Washington Counties, West Virginia and Kentucky in designing and developing websites, applications, tools and software solutions, and was built to answer the question “Can you teach a coal miner to code?” With companies like BitSource growing in the Appalachian region their optimistic motto has become“Silicon Holler is open for business.” Joining the stage will be the Mined Minds Organization to discuss their trans-formative programs in SWPA and West Virginia. Just as the city of Pittsburgh has transformed itself from steel to tech, and the Remake Learning Network is transforming education by creating a thriving ecosystem of innovation and creativity, the coal miners are attempting to bring a new economy to their regions by leaving their lives in the mine to learn to write code, algorithms, and web applications. This is a story that Southwestern Pennsylvania and Appalachia share. To learn more about Bit Source please see this link: https://backchannel.com/canary-in-the-code-mine-903884eca853 and Mined Minds at http://www.minedminds.org/

The Inspire SeriesEvent will take place on Monday, May 1, 2017 from 7:00pm - 9:00pm in the South Fayette high school theatre, 3640 Old Oakdale Rd. McDonald, Pa 15057 This is a free event however we are asking anyone interested in attending to register through EventBrite