Metro Nashville Public Schools Teams Up With Amazon to Bring Computer Science Education to All 72 Elementary Schools, Serving More Than 32,000 Students
August 11 2020 · By Metro Nashville Public Scoos
SUMMARY
Funding from Amazon Future Engineer delivers teacher professional development and curriculum from BootUp – a nonprofit professional development provider specializing in elementary school education – that focuses on high-quality computer science concepts, practices, and standards
Amazon Future Engineer program aims to bring high-quality computer science access to students from underserved and underrepresented communities across the country from childhood to career
New investment in Metro Nashville Public Schools comes as Amazon crosses 1,000 employee milestone in Nashville.
Metro Nashville Public Schools were selected by Amazon to receive funding that will support virtual computer science education and teacher professional development for all 72 elementary schools serving more than 32,000 students. Amazon is working with BootUp, a nonprofit professional development provider specializing in elementary school education, to bring computer science to each school as part of its Amazon Future Engineer program. This new investment in Metro Nashville Public Schools comes as Amazon crosses 1,000 employee milestone in Nashville. Since September 2019, Amazon Future Engineer has also been funding computer science courses and robotics for 24 Metro Nashville schools – Amazon provided 21 schools with robotics programming and three high schools with Introductory and AP computer science courses.
Metro Nashville Public Schools is part of Amazon’s commitment to bring computer science to hundreds of thousands of elementary school students from hundreds of schools and counting across the country. High quality computer science education for elementary school students during their virtual school day is a critical piece of Amazon’s “childhood to career” approach because it helps bridge equity skill gaps at an age when students are just beginning to formulate ideas about their futures.
“Starting the year in a virtual environment brings a sharp focus to the need for all of our students to be technologically proficient and educated in computer science,” said Dr. Adrienne Battle, Director of Schools. “We are grateful for the strong partnership of Amazon and BootUp to provide the learning tools and resources necessary to give all of our elementary students the opportunity to further develop this vital skillset.”
Computer science is one of the fastest growing industries. Computer programmers are needed within every field, including healthcare, transportation, and banking. Although, not every Tennessee student will enter a STEM field, all students will benefit from learning computer science concepts and practices allowing them to better understand the world around them, improve their logical reasoning and problem-solving skills, and increase their creativity and collaboration. This partnership with Amazon and BootUp that provides our students with direct lessons on computer science skills will not only promote but encourage our students to consider entering STEM related fields.
Amazon just crossed their 1,000-employee milestone in Nashville and they continue to hire, with open roles available across a variety of fields, including many that require computer science skills.
“Creating jobs and hiring from the strong, existing talent pool in Nashville is only meeting half of our goal,” said Holly Sullivan, Amazon’s Head of Economic Development. “As we grow in Nashville, we want to be a good neighbor and build a stronger community in Nashville. Part of that work is helping ensure that more students have the computer science skills to fill the jobs of the future. Supporting these curious students - starting in elementary school, especially in this virtual world - is an important step to make this happen.”
This commitment to Metro Nashville Public Schools is part of Amazon’s $50 million investment to increase access to computer science/STEM education across the country, primarily through its childhood to career program, Amazon Future Engineer, to students in underserved and underrepresented communities. In addition, Amazon has donated more than $20 million to organizations that promote computer science/STEM education. Already in Tennessee, more than 40 high schools are part of the Amazon Future Engineer program. Amazon Future Engineer also supports Shelby County Schools with computer science for elementary school students in Memphis, TN.
*This article was first puplished on Metro Nashville Public School News section. *
