Hillsborough Schools to supercharge STEM learning with big grant

TAMPA, FL - A language that can help control robots, build video games, manage theme parks and protect seemingly infinite data floating around in “the cloud” is about to become a much bigger part of students’ learning in Hillsborough County Public Schools.

That language is coding – an essential skill for students to learn to remain competitive in today’s global economy. While only about 40 percent of schools teach computer science, 90 percent of parents want their kids to study the subject, Don Miller of Code.org noted at a recent gathering of educators and partners at the Tampa offices of tech titan Microsoft.

A recent grant will change that in our school district.

“It’s a great opportunity for us,” said Larry Plank, our district’s director of STEM education. “We’ve been talking about expanding computer science for a while.”

The $250,000 grant from Code.org (part of a $200 million commitment nationally from the White House) is heading into Hillsborough Schools to promote professional development, supplies and more to expand computer science education at all grade levels.

Right now, about half of the district’s 27 high schools offer Advanced Placement Computer Science, an essential gateway class for learning the skills necessary for this high-wage, high-demand career market. This money will help expand the class to all high school campuses, plus extend middle school and elementary school coding instruction.

The gathering where Miller and others spoke was called Building a Better Tampa Bay: The 21st Century Digital Learning Taskforce. It marked the formal beginning of an effort to “prepare a platform where computer science education is available to all students regardless of the school they attend, the financial standing of their parents or ethnicity,” Plank said.

Teachers, administrators and other partners will then gather monthly at “solution labs” aimed at building the best plan for making sure students receive the computer science training they’ll need to be ready for post-secondary education and the workforce.

Independent of the Code.org, STEM instruction happens throughout our district, which recently held a STEMtastic event to highlight those offerings. Also, Hillsborough Schools is creating two STEM hubs – one in Town ‘n Country and another in New Tampa.

The goal of each is to establish first-rate programs that will serve students in grades K-12. STEM education is already happening at all district schools, but this is an opportunity to “make a significant change” that can help “move entire schools” to offer high-impact instruction, Plank said.

The Tampa Bay STEM Network exists as a way to coordinate that education in Hillsborough County, bringing educators, governments and industry partners together into a common ecosystem. The grant was the latest accomplishment that will bring cutting-edge STEM education into even more schools and classrooms.

That means more robots, more laptops and more training to get those tools into students’ hands – to ensure we are Preparing Students for Life.