Amazon Donates $1.75 million to construct new STEAM high school in Onondaga County, New York - Seite 3

Employees will also have access to Amazon’s innovative Career Choice program, which pre-pays up to 95% of tuition for courses in high-demand fields. Since the program’s launch, more than 30,000 employees have pursued degrees in computer science, game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming, and radiology, to name a few. Amazon has pledged to invest over $700 million to provide upskilling training for 100,000 U.S. employees through 2025. These programs will help Amazon employees from all backgrounds access training to move into highly skilled roles across the company’s corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment centers, retail stores, and transportation network, or pursue career paths outside of Amazon.

“We are thrilled to have Amazon on board as a partner in the development of our new regional STEAM High School. Their focus on technology and STEM coupled with their presence in our community makes them the perfect partner for us,” said Superintendent Jaime Alicea. “Robotics is going to be a big part of the curriculum at the STEAM High School and this donation will benefit that initiative greatly.”

Amazon also offers a signature computer science education program called Amazon Future Engineer, designed to inspire and educate young adults from underrepresented and underserved communities. Amazon Future Engineer is a childhood to career program, delivering programming that starts with primary school and continues through secondary education and into careers. It reaches millions of students globally, including hundreds of thousands of students in the U.S. each year.

Two schools in Onondaga County currently participate in the Amazon Future Engineer program. Students explore computer science through school curriculum and project-based learning using code to make music, program robots, and solve problems. Amazon Future Engineer also awards 100 students each year with four-year, $40,000 scholarships and paid internships at Amazon. The program also celebrates teachers with professional development and $25,000 Teacher of the Year Awards. Amazon Future Engineer is part of Amazon’s $50 million commitment to STEM and computer science education.