AT&T and Teach For America expand computer science opportunities to South Carolina students

Teach For America has announced that it will expand its Computer Science (CS) initiative, bringing high-quality opportunities to teachers and students in South Carolina with support from AT&T. Through its signature philanthropic initiative, AT&T Aspire, the technology company will contribute $100,000 to Teach For America–South Carolina toward quality professional development and resources for 100 teachers reaching students in Lowcountry, Midlands, and Pee Dee communities. The funds are part of a $900,000 donation from AT&T over the next two years to reach CS educators and the 2,500 students they’re teaching across the Bay Area, Dallas-Fort Worth, Kansas City, New York, Rio Grande Valley, South Carolina, and Washington D.C.

As members of the national CS for All consortium, AT&T and Teach For America are committed to expanding access to CS education in low-income communities by connecting teachers and students to opportunities that develop career skills in technology.

AT&T’s support will help connect teachers to CS curriculum and professional development. AT&T is also continuing its support of the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program, which aims to increase the number of highly skilled CS educators and advocates in underserved communities specifically focused on encouraging participation of students of color and female students in CS.

“Our economy, in fact our entire society, is in the midst of a technological transformation that will increasingly depend on the innovation and energy of today’s young people,” said Pamela Lackey, president of AT&T-South Carolina. “Through Teach for America, we want to provide opportunities in computer science which will excite their imagination and lead to fulfilling, successful careers in the 21^stCentury information ecosphere. Efforts like this will truly make the Profile of the SC Graduate a reality.”

With the support of AT&T and the National Science Foundation, Teach For America formally launched its computer science initiative in 2015 to increase access to high-quality computer science education and experiences in underserved communities. Last year, some educators in South Carolina and about 100 students benefitted from professional development through the Exploring Computer Science program. Teachers led computer science camps across the state, robotics club, Google CS First clubs, and worked with students to submit projects to the Spaceflight Experiment Program where the winners watched a spaceflight launch.

“The generous support from AT&T helped us to launch our InnovateSC initiative to recruit and train more corps members to teach STEM subjects to students who are historically under-represented in the field. Today, corps members are not only teaching STEM subjects in some of our highest need communities, but they are implementing innovative computer science, robotics, and coding opportunities for students to expand their knowledge in the field,” said Josh Bell, Executive Director of Teach For America–South Carolina.  “Our teachers have seen students develop an interest in pursuing a career in computer science and STEM related fields after a year of exploration and applied work, which is amazing.”

This donation will compliment Teach For America–South Carolina’s grant award of $5,000 from AT&T South Carolina for STEM efforts in the Pee Dee.

Only 1 in 4 schools nationwide offer CS classes, leaving many students—particularly students of color and those from low-income communities—without the foundational skills, exposure to teachers with CS backgrounds, and hands-on learning experiences to pursue CS in college and career. With over 500,000 jobs in computing available in the United States, but only 43,000 CS students entering the workforce, the lack of early CS experiences prevents many promising students from taking advantage of the benefits computing has to offer. Five of the fastest-growing occupations in the country are computing occupations, and computing-related jobs provide among the highest entry-level salaries available to those holding a bachelor’s degree. Efforts to reverse this disparity must begin with bolstering Pre-K-12 CS education and expanding access to all students.

About Teach For America

Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding college graduates and professionals to make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to end educational inequity. Corps members are teaching today in 53 urban and rural regions across the country. They join more than 12,000 alumni educators in a teaching force of 19,000 and an overall community that is 53,000 strong, working across every sector to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education. Teach For America is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.organd follow us on Facebook and Twitter. 

About Philanthropy & Social Innovation at AT&T

AT&T is committed to advancing education, strengthening communities and improving lives. Through its community initiatives, AT&T has a long history of investing in projects that create learning opportunities; promote academic and economic achievement; or address community needs. AT&T Aspire is AT&T’s signature philanthropic initiative that drives innovation in education by bringing diverse resources to bear on the issue including funding, technology, employee volunteerism, and mentoring. Through Aspire, we’ve passed the $250 million mark on our plan to invest $350 million in education from 2008-2017.