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Google Gives ITEC $100K to Teach Code to Kids

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flickr/ginny
Google is providing a $100,000 sponsorship of the Lansing-based Information Technology Empowerment Center.

STEM education in mid-Michigan is getting an economic boost from one of the world’s foremost technology companies. 

The “Grow With Google” tour happening today and Saturday at Lansing Community College is only the third event of its kind held in the U.S.

 

At the technology workshop event, Google announced a $100,000 sponsorship of the Lansing-based Information Technology Empowerment Center.

 

The funding will pay for STEM programming for students in grades four through 12.

 

“They often have a phone, they have a computer at home...but they don’t know how to look under the hood; especially how to write computer code, which is a gateway to learning a lot of things,” says ITEC executive director Kirk Riley.  “It’s that digital literacy that’s so important in the 21st century.”

 

ITEC will host technology camps and classes this spring at the Foster Community Center in Lansing. 

 

Kevin Lavery served as a general assignment reporter and occasional local host for Morning Edition and All Things Considered before retiring in 2023.
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