ThoughtSTEM Blog


Why Software Developers Need to Learn Empathy (as well as Coding)

By: Alan Lam

Empathy: Caring for other people and sharing in their feelings and experiences. It’s undoubtedly an important quality for everyone to have. Empathy is also something that is taught through families, through teachers, through friends. If education is to prepare people for success in the world, then empathy has to be a big part of their education. It’s easy to see how useful having empathy would be for areas such as business, marketing, or any other type of work that requires interacting with other people. However, empathy is just as important for people in computer science.


Intern Highlight: Kristyna Mason

By: Philip Ballew

If you haven’t gotten to meet Kristina, she is great. She was one of our awesome interns this summer. Recently I got the chance to sit down with her, and learn more about what she does. Check it out!

Can you tell me a little about yourself?

Hi, there! I am a rising senior majoring in computer science with an emphasis in business. In addition to the summer courses I am taking, I am working as an intern for ThoughtSTEM this summer.


The Economy Coders Have Built

By: Phil Ballew

At ThoughtSTEM, we teach kids the language of computers in order to prepare them for the future. But why? This is the first post in a series of blog posts discussing why we believe it’s so important to teach coding to kids today.


7 Non-Technical Skills your Students Learn at ThoughtSTEM Summer Camp

By: Phil Ballew

1. Critical Thinking

At ThoughtSTEM, we value critical thinking. Our coaches are aware of the importance critical thinking plays in developing into a successful coder. When a student is working on their game, they learn how to evaluate the problem at hand by breaking it down into smaller problems. Critical thinking translates well into even the non-technical areas of your child’s life: whether they’re trying to evaluate the factuality of information they find on the internet, or whether they have a complicated logistical problem to solve.


Who is that on the phone? Jordan Hisamoto!

By: Phil Ballew

Hey Jordan! Can you tell me a little about yourself?

Hey! I work at ThoughtSTEM as the Program Manager. It’s been a really unique and fun job so far. It’s a lot of customer service, where I help parents and students have the best possible experiences in their classes.


Sonny! He helps make the tech your children work on.

By: Phil Ballew

If you haven’t met Sonny, you’re missing out. Sonny is one of the people at ThoughtSTEM who builds the curriculum your children use. In addition, he is a great person and cool individual to hang out with. I sat down with Sonny recently and got to talk about what makes him unique both here at work, but also as a person overall.