Amazon Future Engineer Donates 3.9 Million to Code VA
28 April, 2020
Amazon Future Engineer – Amazon’s childhood-to-career program aimed at expanding computer science access to students from under served and underrepresented communities across the country – announced this morning on a call with CodeRVA, First Lady Pamela Northam, and our Executive Director, Chris Dovi. they have donated $3.9 million to CodeVA through 2022 to support our long-term plan to offer computer science education and training to every high needs school across Virginia – more than 700 schools, including rural regions like the Eastern Shore, the Tobacco Commission service region and Appalachia that may otherwise lack access, training or funding. The donation will support more than 500,000 students and more than 12,000 teachers, particularly those in under served and underrepresented communities.
Amazon has donated the first of three $1.3 million installments to CodeVA, and these funds will help CodeVA make virtual computer science curriculum and training available to tens of thousands of teachers and students throughout Virginia who are now learning from home for the remainder of the academic year. Amazon’s donation supplements Governor Ralph Northam’s state grants to implement computer science standards throughout Virginia and doubles CodeVA’s annual operating budget through 2022.
To accommodate at-home learning in response to COVID-19, We here at Code VA have and continue to quickly developed virtual programming for students, teachers, and families learning from home, started conducting live, online code-along events, including free AP computer science exam prep sessions; shifted dozens of teacher training opportunities from in-person to online; and developed unplugged computer science education resources, including Snail Mail CS, for students with lower internet connectivity and for families who want students spending less time on screens.