Fayetteville State Gets Grant to Promote CS with Neighborhood Kids

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 09/07/16

A North Carolina university is working with a recreation center down the block from campus to teach elementary and middle school kids in the neighborhood how to code. Fayetteville State University's School of Business and Economics received a $54,000 grant for a project called, "Coding Camp: Training the Next Generation of Computer Science Professionals."

The funding came from Google's Community Grants Fund. The program will use Google CS First, a free program intended to introduce students to the concepts of computer science in a club format. The free online curriculum is targeted at students in grades 4-8, who will learn programming using Scratch, MIT's block-based coding language.

The money will pay for computers for the center and for community outreach to help parents understand what computer science is as a profession and why they would want their kids to learn it.

"This grant demonstrates community collaboration at its best," said Pam Jackson, dean of the school of business and economics and co-principal investigator for the project, in a prepared statement.

The university is "always looking for ways to partner with our neighboring communities and provide resources for them to increase and enhance their skills and knowledge," she added. "This project will not only teach these students an important component of computer science, but it will also put them on the path to gaining a better understanding of the STEM fields."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • illustration of a futuristic building labeled "AI & Innovation," featuring circuit board patterns and an AI brain motif, surrounded by geometric trees and a simplified sky

    Cal Poly Pomona Launches AI and Innovation Center

    In an effort to advance AI innovation, foster community engagement, and prepare students for careers in STEM fields and business, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona has teamed up with AI, cloud, and advisory services provider Avanade to launch a new Avanade AI & Innovation Center.

  • black graduation cap with a glowing blue AI brain circuit symbol on top

    Report: AI Is a Must for Modern Learners

    A new report from VitalSource identifies a growing demand among learners for AI tools, declaring that "AI isn't just a nice-to-have; it's a must."

  • glowing shield hovers above a digital cloud platform with abstract data streams and cloud icons in the background

    Google to Acquire Cloud Security Firm Wiz

    Google has announced it will acquire cloud security startup Wiz. If completed, the acquisition — an all-cash deal valued at $32 billion — would mark the largest in Google's history.

  • digital dashboard featuring a shield icon, graphs, a world map, and network nodes

    IBM Introduces Agentic AI Governance and Security Platform

    IBM has launched a new software stack for enterprise IT teams tasked with managing the complex governance and security challenges posed by autonomous AI systems.