South Nodaway to offer computer science courses through Amazon

South Nodaway High School is now part of the Amazon Future Engineer program and will receive funding from Amazon to start offering computer science classes to students during the 2019-20 school year.

South Nodaway is one of over 1,000 high schools currently signed up for the national program aimed at making computer science accessible to all students.

Through curriculum provider Edhesive, the school will offer intro to computer science and advanced placement computer science classes. Provided by the program are preparatory lessons, tutorials and professional development for teachers, fully sequenced and paced digital curriculum for students and live online support for both.

“We couldn’t have taught this course without the support of Amazon,” Renee Turpin, South Nodaway business teacher, said. “We are excited to be able to give our students this opportunity as they prepare to apply to college and build the skills for a rewarding career in technology and innovation. South Nodaway is ready to move forward and help our students become innovation leaders.”

These full-year courses are designed to inspire, prepare and propel students in their pursuit of computer science education. All participating students will receive a free membership to AWS Educate, which provides free access to computing power in the AWS Cloud for their coding projects and content to learn cloud computing.

Launched in November 2018, Amazon Future Engineer is a four-part childhood-to-career program intended to inspire, educate and prepare children and young adults from underprivileged, underrepresented and underserved communities to pursue careers in the fast-growing field of computer science. The program is part of Amazon’s $50 million investment in computer science and STEM education.