Computer Science students at Salem High School just received an early Christmas present – a $10,000 national award. Code.org, in partnership with DonorsChoose, has selected 102 schools around the country to receive the Computer Science Leaders Prize to help further computer science education for students nationwide. Salem High School officially accepted its check this week.
“I'm really excited about the prize because it means I'll be able to get resources that otherwise would be out of reach of our program,” says Gary Lupton, Salem High School Computer Science teacher. “We're going to get a variety of robots, physical computing devices, and specialty tablets that will make learning more hands-on, engaging, and ‘real-world’ for students.”
Dr. Lupton discovered that the award was being offered, but had no idea Salem would be selected a winner. One high school and one middle school in each state and the District of Columbia were selected. Mayor Renee Turk, Councilman Bill Jones, and School Board Chairman David Preston were on hand to congratulate Lupton along with members of the media.
“We're going to be able to get a wide variety of tools which means students of all ability levels will be able to learn using these devices,” says Lupton. “I'm excited to see how this makes a positive impact on our enrollment in CS courses and how that in turn gets more students excited about using computer science. The hope is that the classes will inspire more students to go on to study computer science and eventually work in a CS-related field.”