Amazon Funds Computer Science Education In 30 DeKalb County Schools

DEKALB COUNTY, GA — Amazon and DeKalb County School District announced this week that Amazon is funding computer science education and teacher professional development for 30 elementary schools in the district.

More than 10,000 students from underserved communities and groups currently underrepresented in tech will be impacted through the Amazon Future Engineer program, according to a news release. DeKalb County School District is part of Amazon Future Engineer’s expansion to more than 6,000 schools, 1,000 of which are elementary schools.

“We are thrilled about our partnership with Amazon,” said DCSD Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris in a statement. “This expansion of our computer science program will impact at least 30 elementary schools and benefit over 10,000 students from diverse communities over the course of the next three years.

“This is great news for our District! Technology plays a significant role in STEM education and in our students’ future. This is one more step in DCSD’s digital transformation to provide our students with critical technological skills.”

Amazon Future Engineer is a childhood-to-career computer science education program intended to inspire and educate millions of students from historically underrepresented communities globally, including hundreds of thousands of students in the U.S. each year. Students explore computer science through school curriculum and project-based learning, using code to make music, program robots, and solve problems.

Each year Amazon Future Engineer awards 100 students with four-year, $40,000 scholarships and paid internships at Amazon, as well as names ten Teacher of the Year winners, awarding $30,000 prize packages for going above and beyond to inspire students in computer science and to promote diversity and inclusion in the field.

“The Amazon Future Engineer program will close equity gaps by ensuring computer science learning opportunities for students in underserved communities like DeKalb and throughout the nation,” said Clark Merkley, BootUp PD’s executive director. “It’s really the first ongoing national sponsorship focused on implementing sustainable, district-wide computer science. We’re extremely proud to be a part of something that will have a measurable, positive impact for decades to come.”

Amazon said its commitment to DeKalb County School District is part of its investment to increase access to computer science/STEM education across the country, primarily through Amazon Future Engineer. For 2021, the program is on track to meet its goal of reaching 1.6 million students from historically underrepresented communities globally through its real-world-inspired, virtual and hands-on computer science project learning experiences. Amazon Future Engineer already supports more than 40 schools across metro Atlanta with high-quality, free, computer science curriculum, robotics clubs and educator professional learning.