Join us for 3 days of exciting professional development!
Participants will have the opportunity to choose from one of several computing and AI workshops that best align to your experience and professional learning goals. Along with the workshops, there will be whole group events for participants to connect with other educators and organizations working to expanding computing and AI education across the state.
Dates: August 4-6, 2026
Location: Bruininks Hall, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Cost: $100 (includes one year of CSTA membership)
Learn more about stipends and travel reimbursements for Empower, including eligibility criteria.
EmpowerMN CS+AI Workshops
EmpowerMN CS+AI aims to offer a variety of workshops that support educators in learning about and teaching computing to their students. We're excited to offer the following in August 2026:
- Introduction to Computer Science & Computational Thinking
- Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
- Experience CS
- CS Integration with Physical Computing
- Telling Stories with Data
- Cybersecurity Standards & Curricula
- AI in CS Education
Schedule
Participants will sign up for one workshop for the entire 3-day conference. Each day, all registered participants of the conference will gather for an EmpowerUp session. In the past, EmpowerUp sessions have included tours of UMN computing centers, CS Playground, updates from the Minnesota Department of Education, and other guest speakers.
8:00 - 8:30 am Registration and Breakfast
8:30 am - 12:00 pm Workshops & EmpowerUp
12:00 - 12:45 pm Lunch (Thursday only - MDE CS District Leaders meeting)
12:45 - 4:30 pm Workshops & EmpowerUp
Acknowledgements
This event would not be possible without our dedicated Steering Committee:
- Tim Barrett, Minnesota Department of Education
- Rick Ballew, CSTA-MN
- Susan Fell Johnson, Minnesota Department of Education
- Maggie Kerin, Raspberry Pi Foundation
- Tia Clasen, UMN AI Hub
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2607763.