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Kentucky School Gets Prestigious Computer Science Workshop

Apollo High School is one of 30 schools in the nation, and the only one in Kentucky, that was invited to send a team to the CSForALL workshop that took place at the end of February in Alexandria, Virginia.

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(TNS) — Apollo High School is one of 30 schools in the nation, and the only one in Kentucky, that was invited to send a team to the CSForALL workshop that took place at the end of February in Alexandria, Virginia.

CSforAll, which stands for Computer Science for All, is a K-12 national computer science movement, according to its website. The organization collaborates with school districts, nonprofits, government agencies and corporations “that share the goal of rigorous, inclusive and sustainable CS education in the U.S.”

Apollo and other schools were chosen to participate in the workshop because of their efforts to create computer science opportunities for students as well as having strong ROTC programs.

The team from Apollo included AHS Principal Rick Lasley, Air Force JROTC instructor Chief Franklin Smith, engineering and computer science teacher Jonathan Leohr, mathematics and computer science teacher Michelle Pagan, and DCPS director of secondary education Charles Broughton. Through the workshop, they learned how to improve upon Apollo’s already existing computer science and coding courses and how to add cybersecurity courses to the Apollo AFJROTC program.

According to a release from DCPS, Apollo specifically was chosen to create a model for the Department of Defense to fund school computer science and cybersecurity pathways, so the team also received “intensive training and specialized training in implementing these courses, which will then be available for student enrollment in March.”

Lasley said the team was excited and honored to participate in the workshop.

“We made a decision two years ago to invest in more coding/programming opportunities for Apollo students based on the increasing demands of work available in this field,” Lasley said. “To be able to add cybersecurity to this list allows our students a more vast array of offerings to prepare them for future roles.”

Leohr said the world of computer science is expanding, and he and his Apollo associates are thrilled to keep Apollo on the “cutting edge of technology” through the CSforALL workshop.

“We are excited about the many partnerships we created this weekend with Intel, Google, Lockheed Martin, NICE and many others,” Leohr said. “This is truly another exciting chapter for Apollo High School.”

Broughton said through CSforALL, Apollo students will have increased computer sciences opportunities and this partnership will introduce new career pathways for students.

“Our district is supportive of this endeavor and we are looking forward to a successful partnership,” he said.

Apollo added its coding pathway in August 2019. 

©2020 the Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Ky.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.