Grant helps Indian Creek expand computer science program

<p>At Indian Creek High School, students in the Information and Technology Support class learn how to repair electronic devices, eventually gaining the skills they need to become certified by technology giant Dell.</p><p>The high school plans to build on its computer science program using a $1,000 grant it received earlier this year. Indian Creek High School was one of five schools in Indiana to receive the grant from Nextech, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing equitable access to computer science curriculum for all Indiana students in kindergarten through 12th grade, according to a news release from the organization.</p><p>The grant will help the school as it aims to begin offering intro to computer science for students starting in the fall, after which school administrators want to expand the school’s offerings through Computer Science 2, a data-based class that builds on what is taught in the introductory class. The money from the grant will help the high school purchase the technology that’s needed for those classes, said Lauren Woodworth, a computer science teacher at the school.</p><p>Those technology pieces could include circuit playgrounds and miniature devices for beginning programmers. In addition to new course offerings, Indian Creek also plans to offer a Career Exploration Internship during the 2020-21 school year that will allow students to work with the schools’ technology department for two hours each day, Woodworth said.</p><p>“This is one of the most rapidly growing fields,” Woodworth said of computer science. “We’re tapping into a huge need in society that has evolved so much in the last decade. There are jobs that exist that didn’t when we graduated 10 years ago. That kind of thinking is how we prepare our students on a global level and make them marketable to employers.”</p>