Computer Science | News

Startup Gets Funding To Teach St. Louis Students How To Code

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 12/19/13

A St. Louis-based startup has just received a financial boost from a cloud computing, colocation and managed hosting company headquartered in the same city. The $10,000 donation will be used to create, market, and distribute educational materials to help teachers teach computer language and coding skills to students in grades 1-12.

Code Red Education, the recipient of the grant from Contegix, estimates the sponsorship will pay for 3,600 students in St. Louis — about 16 percent of the city's student population — to learn coding.

Code Red's program is expected to be composed of grade-level content containing 20 to 25 lessons. It's designed to help students develop logical reasoning and mental organizational skills, provide professional development for teachers, and assist those students who earn certifications to find tech jobs. The service will offer an annual subscription available to update the curriculum, provide additional training and generate other new materials.

"We were delighted to offer Code Red as an after-school activity to our elementary school students," said Chris Schreiner, principal of Reed Elementary School. "It blends well with the other programming activities which take place as part of our curriculum, such as robotics. This program allows students to have fun and use their creativity while learning 21st century skills they very well may need in future careers."

The company made the donation, according to CEO Matthew Porter, to encourage the city to grow as a "tech hub." "We see Code Red as a great long-term investment... It is laying the foundation for a highly educated, technical workforce."