© 2024 Wyoming Public Media
800-729-5897 | 307-766-4240
Wyoming Public Media is a service of the University of Wyoming
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Transmission & Streaming Disruptions

Coder-garten? Mead Pushes K-12 Computer Science Education

Wyoming Department of Education

Governor Matt Mead signed an official proclamation Tuesday recognizing December 4 through 11 as Computer Science Education Week in Wyoming, as a part of his effort to make computer science a K-12 academic requirement.

 

“I would like to see coding at every grade level,” Governor Mead said at the proclamation.

 

He also acknowledged that the idea might be met with hesitation given the financial challenges public education is facing.  

 

“There is an expense associated with [funding computer science education], but when you look at the net, there is a greater expense with not doing that,” Mead said, referring to the cost down the line if kids aren’t computer literate.

 

Changes in the workforce are on the horizon and Wyoming's economic future is reliant on educating kids to be leaders in the tech field, said Mead. He said he wants to make sure Wyoming has the education program necessary, “so that our workers aren’t just displaced but so we are on the cutting edge of providing technology.”

 

As a part of the celebration, Wyoming's K-12 schools were invited to partake in the Hour of Code -- a free one-hour introduction to computer science. Each school that reaches a 100 percent participation level will be entered to win $500 towards the purchase of technology for their classrooms.

 

The governor has approached the Joint Education Committee and the Select Committee on School Finance Reform about amending the current K-12 education program to include computer science as a requirement. Lawmakers generally support the idea, but are struggling with how to put more demands on already financially-strapped schools.

 

Tennessee -- despite what the name might make you think -- was born and raised in the Northeast. She most recently called Vermont home. For the last 15 years she's been making radio -- as a youth radio educator, documentary producer, and now reporter. Her work has aired on Reveal, The Heart, LatinoUSA, Across Women's Lives from PRI, and American RadioWorks. One of her ongoing creative projects is co-producing Wage/Working (a jukebox-based oral history project about workers and income inequality). When she's not reporting, Tennessee likes to go on exploratory running adventures with her mutt Murray.
Related Content