CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) is pleased to announce key support from Microsoft Corp. enabling the department to offer computer science implementation and planning training to school districts. Wyoming will receive over $95,000 in grant funding from Microsoft’s TechSpark initiative to offer Strategic CSforALL Resource & Implementation Planning Tool (SCRIPT) training for school districts. CSforALL is an organization dedicated to making computer science part of every K-12 student’s education.
SCRIPT training provides districts with strategic planning tools to think through what is needed to provide equitable, high-quality computer science education available to all students in their districts. Through a series of self-assessment and goal-setting activities, districts will develop a computer science education vision and roadmap for implementation.
“The WDE is excited to work with Microsoft and CSforALL on this project,” said Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jillian Balow. “The Wyoming Legislature gave us the directive to prepare students to compete in a world that is more and more technology based, by incorporating computer science education into our classrooms by 2023. A priority of the WDE is to provide districts with the support they need to succeed.”
“Computer science skills are going to be fundamental as employers in every industry from agriculture to transportation uses technology to innovate and compete in the economy,” said Dennis Ellis, manager of Microsoft’s TechSpark Wyoming, an initiative to partner with rural and smaller metropolitan communities to spark new economic opportunities and job creation. “Making computer science education an opportunity within reach of every student ensures Wyoming’s children can be future ready and will make our state attractive to public and private investments that can drive economic growth.”
Districts must apply to attend, and those serving substantially rural and under-served students will be given priority. Participants will include district leaders and school leaders, media/tech facilitators and educators teaching computer science.
Training will occur in five locations and will be open to six districts in each location. Each training consists of several sessions over a year.
- Casper: May 14 & 15, 2019, Oct. 15, 2019 and May 20, 2020.
- Rock Springs: June 4 & 5, 2019, Nov. 14, 2019, and June 4, 2020.
- Cheyenne: June 11 & 12, 2019, Nov. 19, 2019, and June 11, 2020.
- Worland: Aug. 5 & 6, 2019, Jan. 7, 2020, and Aug. 6, 2020.
- Gillette: Sept. 24 & 25, 2019, Feb. 25, 2020, and Sept. 24, 2020.
“Our WDE school support team worked hard with Microsoft to provide this support for schools,” Balow said. “We will continue to identify important resources as we implement computer science education.”
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Media Contact:
Michelle Panos, Communications Director
michelle.panos1@wyo.gov
307-777-2053
