Amazon helps Scanlan start computer science program
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A local high school has received
assistance in jumpstarting
their computer science
program from one of America’s
largest corporations.
Monsignor Scanlan High
School was selected from a
large group of applicants by
tech behemoth Amazon to be a
part of a new outreach to high
schools nationwide: the ‘Amazon
Future Engineer’ program.
The program, offi cially
launched in November, afforded
Scanlan the opportunity
to start its own computer
science program and provided
the software and support necessary
to bring the learning of
coding and computer programming
to the school.
Jennifer Tulipano, a Scanlan
science teacher, said that
assistance from the Amazon
Future Engineers program has
helped her teach courses she
otherwise would not have been
able to add to the curriculum.
The school now offers ‘Introduction
to Computer Science’
and ‘Advanced Placement
Computer Science Principals’,
she said.
“We turned what were two
physics classes into computer
science classes,” said Tulipano.
“The children were thrilled
about it.”
The curriculum includes
not only programming and
coding, but also information
about the history of computer
science and how technology is
evolving, she said.
“Many students did not
think that they could go into
this fi eld and now some are applying
to college with the intention
of majoring or minoring
in computer science,” said Tulipano.
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“It has changed their
whole career path.”
A computer program called
Edhesive allows teachers who
may not have computer science
backgrounds to teach the
courses, she said.
“It comes with a vast support
system for both the teachers
and students as they are
learning,” said an Amazon
spokeswoman.
The spokeswoman said that
Amazon Future Engineers operated
for a year and a half as
a pilot before it was offi cially
launched on Tuesday, November
1.
The spokeswoman said that
it includes four components:
• an elementary and middle
school component with coding
camps and tutorials
• a high school component
that helps ‘Title 1’ schools (and
those serving high-need populations)
implement computer
science classes with a goal of
reaching 2,000 schools and
100,000 students.
• a scholarship program
that provides college students
planning to major in computer
science a $10,000 grant for each
of four years of college
• an internship program at
the tech juggernaut for college
freshman and sophomores.
While the high schools chosen
for Amazon Future Engineers
typically tend to be public
schools, Scanlan has many
students who are on scholarship
and who otherwise would
have gone to high-needs public
schools, she said.
“Amazon is focused on making
sure all children and young
adults have the resources and
skills to build their best and
brightest futures,” said the
spokeswoman. “Improving and
increasing access to STEM education
and computer science
is a big piece of this as coding
is the language of the future - it
is just as important as learning
how to read for the future generation
of innovators and we
want to make sure all students
have this opportunity.”
Scanlan students also participated
in a nationwide media
campaign that accompanied
the program’s launch called a
Satellite Media Tour, said Tulipano,
where students were
fi lmed in class for future broadcasts
around the country.
The Amazon program helped Monsignor Scanlan High School STEM
teacher Jennifer Tulipano teach the fi rst of the school’s computer science
classes. Photo courtesy of Monsignor Scanlan HS
Teacher Jennifer Tulipano (r.)
works with students a computer
science class.
Photo courtesy of Monsignor Scanlan HS