LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Dozens of students from Clark County School District’s Central Technical Training Academy are expanding their computer skills thanks in part to an initiative launched by Amazon Web Services.
The magnet school opened at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year.
As many as 60,000 people from around the world attended the Amazon Web Service event including 45 local high school students, including Samantha Favela a junior at Central Technical Training Education.
“It’s really big for me because there’s not a lot of women working in STEM, and so just being part of that small percentage of women is empowering,” she said.
Mathew Trites is a junior at Central Training Technical Academy and believes the skills he’s learning are very important.
“They’re offering other things that schools don’t have like construction classes, we even framed a wall last month. And manufacturing – to learn about robots,” Trites said.
Gina Nakahara is among nine CCSD teachers taking part in the program.
“We are teaching right now manufacturing, computer science, and construction at our school, and we’re hoping to go from there,” she said.
AWS called the program “All builders welcome” which allows children who normally don’t have access to resources an opportunity to learn the skills giant tech corporations are currently in need of. Teachers such as Laura Schaffnit know some of the trades are in demand.
“Coding is a skill that students are going to need just like reading, writing, and math, it’s one of those skills you’re going to need in almost any job,” she said.
AWS required that Clark County Schools select students that come from underrepresented groups.
Heather Ruden the director of AWS Education programs added that the program hopes to inspire students and create a diverse talent pool.
“We’re trying to do more of this, kind of this education and enrichment programs that bring new learners into the cloud careers. So they can see the potential,” Ruden said.