LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) Office of Computer Science is pleased to announce a new program, “Read, Code, Create” for middle school students and teachers across the state. This program was developed collaboratively with CSforAR, R.I.S.E. Arkansas, AR STEM, and G.U.I.D.E for Life. Each 6th-grade building is sending a teacher to the provided training and will receive a classroom set of “My Life As a Coder.” Teachers attending the training will also receive hands-on experiences in content integration through reading, coding, and creating. In addition, teachers will have access to check-out a classroom set of coding devices.

Kelly Griffin, Director of ADE Office of Computer Science, said, "Our office is thrilled to bring this program to the state. This unique opportunity allows students to enjoy reading while also learning about computer science. We are grateful for the opportunity to work alongside R.I.S.E., G.U.I.D.E for Life, and AR STEM. It is our hope that this integration of literacy, engineering, and computer science will inspire Arkansas teachers to continue embracing computer science in all subject areas.”

This wide-reaching program is new, but also a continuation of its cross-initiative program supporting the Arkansas Computer Science (#ARKidsCanCode) and Arkansas Reading Initiatives (#RISEArkansas). Previous years have seen hundreds of books distributed to school libraries of all grades across the state, but “Read, Code, Create” aims to expose students to STEM while boosting both literacy and critical-thinking skills.

"I applaud our Office of Computer Science for this initiative that will increase the opportunity for our younger students to learn about coding and the opportunities in life that coding brings," Governor Asa Hutchinson said. "This has been one of the most successful education initiatives that has brought national attention to Arkansas, and the integration of computer science with all of our students' studies will increase learning opportunities in reading and the STEM subjects."

This is Computer Science Education Week, and Arkansas is releasing a new Computer Science related announcement and/or commitment each day of this week. For a full listing of the announcements as they are made please visit the ADE Computer Science Webpage.