MOUNT ST. MICHAEL ACADEMY HAS BEEN SELECTED BY AMAZON 

Amazon's Future Engineer Program will fund Computer Science courses at Mount St. Michael Academy. Students will have access to in-demand Introductory and AP Computer Science courses, helping them build skills for rewarding careers in technology and innovation.

 

 

Amazon recently announced that more than 130 high schools in New York City will start providing computer science courses, supported by Amazon Future Engineer, an initiative aimed at making computer science available to children in underrepresented and underserved communities. The more than 130 schools are located throughout all five New York City boroughs, including more than 30 in Queens, where the company plans to open one of its new headquarters. 

 

With Amazon Future Engineer’s funding, the selected New York City high schools will offer Intro to Computer Science and Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science classes through the New York-based curriculum provider, Edhesive. Amazon’s funding provides preparatory lessons, tutorials, and professional development for teachers, fully sequenced and paced digital curriculum for students, and live online support every day of the week for both teachers and students. These full-year courses are designed to inspire students and develop their understanding of technology and coding so that someday they might be interested in pursuing a professional career in the fast-growing field of computer science. All students participating in this program will receive a free membership to AWS Educate which provides them with free access to computing power in the AWS Cloud for their coding projects and content to learn about cloud computing.

 

 “Amazon is helping fill a major gap in our curriculum that will help young people acquire the skills to build rewarding careers, while boosting prospects for our local community overall” said George Diaz, an assistant principal at one of the selected schools.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2020 there will be 1.4 million computer-science-related jobs available and only 400,000 computer science graduates with the skills to apply for those jobs. Computer science is the fastest growing profession within the Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) field, but only 8% of STEM graduates earn a computer science degree, with a tiny minority from underprivileged backgrounds. And, students from underprivileged backgrounds are 8 to 10 times more likely to pursue college degrees in computer science if they have taken AP computer science in high school. 

 

“We want to help make sure more children across New York City gain the coding skills necessary to have successful careers in many fields,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer, Amazon. “We are excited that Amazon Future Engineer will immediately impact more than 130 schools and thousands of students who do not currently have access to computer science education. We will continue to invest in bringing these classes to more schools in New York City and across the U.S.”

 

Amazon Future Engineer is a comprehensive childhood-to-career program intended to inspire, educate, and train children and young adults from underserved and low-income communities across the country to pursue careers in the fast-growing field of computer science. Amazon Future Engineer aims to inspire more than 10 million kids each year to explore computer science, help over 100,000 young people in 2,000 high schools in lower income communities take Introductory or Advanced Placement (AP) courses in computer science, and provide 100 students from underrepresented communities with four-year $10,000 scholarships as well as guaranteed internships to gain work experience.