Coffee Corner Discussions
Get to know other SAP Community members during your coffee break. Join discussions on a variety of topics in a casual environment.
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

World Youth Skills Day: July 15th

johna69
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert

Friday July 15th is the United Nations World Youth Skills Day.

wysd_logo_0.png

Those that know me will be aware that I get a lot of enjoyment helping the younger generation. Children have imagination and creativity that is still boundless, and they are capable of amazing things.
Helping them realize their ideas is both fun and rewarding. There are many opportunities to get involved with the local community be it smaller local organizations or larger ones like First Lego League, Hour of Code and Techgirlz.

"Young people are drivers of change and must be fully engaged in decisions affecting their future. Guided by the United Nations Youth 2030 strategy, I urge everyone to act for youth skills development as a priority, at the Summit and beyond." - UN Secretary-General António Guterres

I am fortunate to have been able to volunteer with a number of youth organizations, both within and outside technology. Some of the kids I have been lucky enough to Mentor are now building their own careers while the younger ones are still exploring the digital tools available to them.

As an avid maker, I love to share the toys I have with others, for example programming and playing with drones is lots of fun. Skills of course don't always have to be technical and can take many forms. As one of the hundreds of National Interscholastic Cycling Association coaches we also see young leaders growing with their peers while challenging themselves both physically and mentally in the sport of Mountain Biking.

20191123_113651.jpeg

We have recently started a Rubik's Challenge in the d-shop at Newtown Square, this is open to employees and their families to take part whenever they are in the office. Who can solve the cube fastest. Of the top 3 fastest solvers, one is a 6 year old and the other a 16 year old, for this challenge the youth are teaching us new things.

IMG_0658.jpeg

Youth Education is part of the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 4 to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. The UN 2030 goal was started in 2018 and significantly impacted by the Covid 19 pandemic. An enormous global concerted effort is now needed to help recover from the years of lost progress caused by the pandemic.

TheGlobalGoals_Icons_Color_Goal_4.png

Which youth organizations do you work with and what opportunities would you like to see available to our future engineers, leaders, entrepreneurs, .... ?

3 REPLIES 3

NTeunckens
Active Contributor

I'm a coach at a Local CoderDojo, which is a non-profit to get kids up to speed on computer programming outside of a School curriculum ...
I can attest that it is indeed very rewarding to help Kids on their path to becoming "Makers", whether real Developers, Citizen Developers or just to stimulate their Logical Thinking. I'm always surprised to see and hear other pathways to a Solution for a Game, a Calculator, a programmable path for a Robot, that I couldn't have come up with ... I'm just not that Creative (or too constrained by patterns I've used over and over) as an Adult, haha ...

So anyone who is up for it, CoderDojo is a global community and chances are that there is a Local community in your area ...


Kind regards

Nic T.

StephanieMarley
Community Advocate
Community Advocate

I volunteer with our local Junior Achievement chapter. Junior Achievement’s mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed. It is an opportunity for me to share my experience in efforts to impact their perception positively to consider a career in technology. Often I learn more from the students than I think that they've learned from me 😁

 


----- Find out What's New in SAP Community - click on "Options - Subscribe" today!-----

staceyfish
Community Advocate
Community Advocate

You truly are an inspiration, John.  Thank you for starting this discussion, sharing all your amazing projects and for being a tremendous youth mentor. 

My passion and life goal is to make a difference, be a part of something bigger than myself, and to give back so others may live in our world as they deserve.

I've done volunteer work with Techgirlz 

Am a mentor for single Mom's at Hey Mama - a members-only social and professional ecosystem network community for mothers who are growing careers and families to provide each other with support, connection, and collaboration at every stage of life and career.

A passionate advocate for adults with autism at Front Porch Cohousing by NDL - building cohousing communities where adults with autism and other intellectual abilities can live a life of belonging and inclusion. 

 

Cheers, Stacey