Amazon Expands Amazon Future Engineer Program To 550,000+ K-12 Students - Quick Facts
(RTTNews) - Amazon announced Tuesday that it is expanding its computer science education program, Amazon Future Engineer, to more than 5,000 schools across the U.S., benefiting over 550,000 K-12 students each year.
The expansion more than doubles Amazon Future Engineer's reach, adding more than 3,000 new schools across the U.S. Nearly all Amazon Future Engineer schools include a significant percentage of students from groups currently underrepresented in computer science and tech, including Black, LatinX, and Indigenous students. These include students from rural areas, with more than 80% being Title I schools.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon Future Engineer coursework can be done virtually to help ensure students stay on track and continue to prepare for the jobs of the future.
Amazon's funding will support more than 1,000 elementary schools and more than 4,000 middle and high schools with high-quality computer science courses, online support, and teacher professional development.
Amazon Future Engineer's expansion to elementary schools helps bridge equity skill gaps at a critical age, when students are just beginning to formulate ideas about their futures.
Amazon Future Engineer also launched the Amazon Cyber Robotics Challenge - a free, virtual, first of its kind coding competition that teaches students the basics of computer science in the context of a real-life industry challenge.
Teachers from Title I schools who complete this competition will also be eligible for free, expanded virtual robotics lessons to further support their students while they learn from home.
