WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG BROOKLYN NEWS 17
Borough President Adams wants
Brooklyn’s students online and coding
today, with the goal of getting them in line
for high-paying jobs tomorrow.
At a speech to the Association for
a Better New York (ABNY) last June,
Borough President Adams first shared
his vision for an educational curriculum
that includes the computer science
programs that the current job market
requires. The idea germinated into an
initiative called Code Brooklyn, launched
last November, with the stated mission
of giving every public school student in
Brooklyn the opportunity of learning how
to code.
“Our future is being written in zeroes
and ones, and coding will help our young
people write that future while adding
several zeroes to the ends of their salaries,”
said Borough President Adams at
a launch event in the library of PS/MS
282 Park Slope School, a Title I institution
in Park Slope. “Code Brooklyn is a
call to action for improving access to the
job training and education necessary to
compete in our 21st century economy.
We need our students to be prepared to
secure the jobs of today and tomorrow,
as well as to grow from the quantitative
and creative skills that come from exposure
to computer science and coding.”
His plan started with a call for every
district school in the borough to participate
in the Hour of Code, a global
effort in over 180 countries to help
demystify coding, during Computer
Science Education Week last December.
Confident in Brooklyn’s students and
teachers, Borough President Adams got
bold and challenged Chicago’s public
schools to a participation competition.
With more than 80 percent of the borough’s
public schools providing at least
one hour of classroom instruction for
computer science and the basics of coding,
Brooklyn emerged victorious.
“Brooklyn students won in the Hour
of Code challenge, and they will continue
winning as they further their coding
education,” said Borough President
Adams. “Our young coders will have an
opportunity not only to work at high-tech
companies in Brooklyn, but to establish
enterprises of their own and to build
wealth in our community. Even for students
who pursue other career interests,
coding and computer science education
orient them to the critical thinking and
problem solving needed to be a success.
Code Brooklyn provides a foundation for
public school students in Brooklyn to
develop the skills that allow them to
achieve their aspirations as artists and
innovators.”
Borough President Adams, who was a
computer programmer prior to beginning
his policing career, now intends to build
on the success of Brooklyn students in
the Hour of Code challenge, creating the
infrastructure in every classroom and
every school that will allow students to
become technologically-proficient. This
includes outfitting every public school
with 3D printers, a cutting-edge technology
which he is looking to fund through his
capital budget. He wants students from
Brooklyn to become leaders in this center
of innovation, internationally-renowned
for such start-ups as Kickstarter and
Etsy, where there is an abundance of
opportunities that exist for individuals
who are adept in STEM studies.
To support Code Brooklyn, Borough
President Adams has continued to invest
in our public schools, with $20 million
in Fiscal Year 2016, about $15 million
of which involved STEM education. In
addition, Borough President Adams will
Photo: Erica Sherman/Brooklyn BP’s O ce
assess the resources our public schools
need in order to develop comprehensive
programs in computer science, such
as STEM laboratories, smartboards,
and advanced computers, and allocate
these resources from the capital budget
based on that assessment, directing
critical funding, with an eye toward the
future, to the students who need them.
Additionally, Borough President Adams is
working with State Senator Diane Savino
and Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon
on state legislation to make computer
science a required part of the school
curriculum, as well as to create a specific
teacher accreditation for computer
science.
With Code Brooklyn, Borough
President Adams will demonstrate to
students the exciting possibilities that
already exist, and allow them to dreams
of achievements that will benefit the
entire community of One Brooklyn.
CODE BROOKLYN
Borough President Adams joined students at Sunset Park High School as they
practiced encrypting text in their coding club.
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