TechTown Celebrates 1-Year Anniversary

  • Wednesday, June 29, 2016
  • Jessica Kramer

TechTown celebrated its one-year anniversary Wednesday morning. Mayor Andy Berke praised the nonprofit learning center for helping the city of Chattanooga make big strides.

He said last night the city budget was passed unanimously, and in that budget was funding for TechTown.

“To create value in this world, we’ve gotta build things,” he said. “It’s what the whole world is talking about now. We live in the innovation century, and what drives innovation is talent. … It’s people who come up with new ideas, and the only way that we’re gonna be successful as a city is if we maximize the talents.”

Cordell Carter, CEO of TechTown, said the learning center would not be possible without Chattanooga.

“You need a place that’s risk taking. You need a place that’s trying to change the narrative of the American South,” he said.

Mr. Carter went on to describe the nonprofit’s comprehensive approach, reaching 5,200 kids within just one year. He said the number equaled 13 percent of all 45,000 children in the district and mentioned the center’s five partnerships with Title 1 schools.

“We are trying to go from 5 to 55,” he said.  “We’re looking to go further, deeper, take this thing to the next level. … We have the greatest expectations for TechTown.”

An eighth grade student at CCA said his experience at TechTown gave him the opportunity to talk to people from NASA. He said he learned how coding could change the future through working with video games.

A tour of the TechTown facilities reveals state-of-the-art learning opportunities for children from the ages of 7-17. The center boasts 23,000 square feet of space dedicated to robotics, circuitry, 3D design software development, and film.

Mike Harrell, TechTown Board chairman, said TechTown has brought together six disciplines of technology in one place. The center has 200 laptops, 10 3D printers, circuitry components, high definition cameras, and green screens, all which are utilized through a project-based, hands-on, collaborative teaching approach.

The students themselves come from “all kinds of socioeconomic backgrounds,” he said, some visiting downtown for the first time.

“At the end of the day, if the kids don’t leave here believing they are capable of more than they thought they were capable of when they came in, then we failed them that day,” said Mr. Carter.

He said the same children who are failing algebra on state tests are excelling in their programs.

“Kids are more engaged in learning algebra because they can’t program a robot unless they can solve for x,” said Mr. Harrell.

He said the mission of TechTown is “to help develop an elaborate culture of creators for our community,” a phrase coined by Mayor Berke.

“This is an incredible opportunity for us,” the mayor said. “After one year, TechTown has helped us make big strides.”

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