Technology is often viewed through the lens of lines of code and GitHub commits, but its true impact lies in the community it builds. Recently, representatives from Open Source with SLU stepped away from our development environments to serve as ambassadors for the future of computer science during a regional outreach event. While the setting was informal, the goal was high-stakes: inspiring curiosity in middle and high school students. As a representative of our open-source program, my role wasn't just to talk about software, but to demystify the "black box" of technology for students who are just starting to explore STEM. We focused our conversations on the core philosophy of Open Source: Collaboration: Explaining how developers who have never met can build global tools together. Transparency: Showing students that they don't just have to use apps—they can actually read, understand, and change the code behind them.…