CoderZ and Amazon Future Engineer Launch Amazon Cyber Robotics Back-to-School Challenge

All competition participants have a chance to win $250 for their classrooms; Title I teachers can also apply for yearlong access to the CoderZ curriculum

DERRY, N.H. – Sept. 29, 2020 – This fall, CoderZ and Amazon Future Engineer are bringing real-world industry to classrooms with the Amazon Cyber Robotics Back-to-School Challenge. In this free, three-hour virtual learning experience, students learn the basics of computer science while uncovering how Amazon uses computer science and robotics daily to deliver customer goods.

Schools that support students from underserved communities who finish the challenge not only have the chance to win prizes, but also to keep learning on CoderZ’s cloud-based platform with its virtual robots and game-like “missions.” For teachers who want to continue with CoderZ, Amazon will also sponsor free access to the yearlong curriculum for 100,000 students from underserved communities within the United States for a full semester during 2020 – 2021.

“We’re thrilled that Amazon Future Engineer continues to support schools and students in need during these challenging days, to make sure more of them have the equal opportunity to learn the skills they’ll need to be successful in future jobs,” said Ms. Yaarit Levy, VP Business Development at CoderZ.

“The Amazon Cyber Robotics Challenge provides a unique learning experience where students explore and practice these skills in connection with real-life industry learnings,” said Trevor Pope, Competition Master at CoderZ. “We recommend the challenge for grades four and above; but no matter their grade level, participating students will begin to understand what they learn in class relates to future job opportunities. That makes this challenge a great bonus unit for any STEM/computer science class or curriculum.”

The Amazon Cyber Robotics Challenge can be broken into four, 45-minute or three, 60-minute lessons for any class (Introduction to Computer Science, AP Computer Science Principles, science, math, etc.) and is aligned to CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards. Teachers can review standards alignment in the provided teacher manual after creating their CoderZ account.

As part of the experience, two Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship recipients introduce the challenge and guide participating students. As students make their way through the competition, the Scholarship recipients share details about their own personal journeys into computer science, which is helpful for younger students to hear firsthand.

In addition, from August through December, Amazon Future Engineer will raffle off five monthly $250 gift cards to classrooms with at least 15 students that complete the Challenge. All prizes will be sent directly to classroom teachers via email. Winning teachers can use the gift card to purchase any supplies for their students and classroom that will further computer science learning and instruction.

Aside from the sponsorships, students’ cyber robotics learning doesn’t have to stop once they have completed the Amazon Back-to-School Challenge. They can continue their coding journey via CoderZ’s comprehensive offerings such as CoderZ Adventure for elementary students, the Python Gym course for students in grades seven through 12, and the middle school curriculums Cyber Robotics 101 and Cyber Robotics 102. Teachers can even register their classes for the all-new CoderZ League: the Virtual Cyber Robotics Competition and opt for one of the tournament’s special course bundles to build their students’ coding skills before the opening round.

Throughout the year, Amazon Future Engineer is committed to providing access to high-quality computer science education for hundreds of thousands of students from underserved and underrepresented communities. In addition to sponsoring continued access to CoderZ for 100,000 underserved students, the Amazon Future Engineer program is planning to more than double its own reach in schools across the country. The program will be adding more than 3,000 new schools, bringing the total of schools it supports to more than 5,000.

For more information about the Amazon Cyber Robotics Back-to-School Challenge, go to http://gocoderz.com/amazon-cyber-robotics-challenge.

About CoderZ

CoderZ is an innovative and engaging online learning environment. Developed for students in grades 2 and above, the gamified STEM solution allows students to work at their own pace, easily programming real and virtual robots from anywhere in the world. The platform enables students to acquire computational thinking, problem-solving and creativity skills, together with coding and STEM learning, all via a flexible and scalable virtual solution. For more information go to www.gocoderz.com.