Pharrell Helps Launch Contest That Aims To Propel The Next Generation Of Coders With Amazon And Georgia Tech
Amazon has partnered with Pharrell Williams’ education equity nonprofit YELLOW and the Georgia Institute of Technology to launch the 2022 “Your Voice is Power” music remix competition.
Now in its second year, the “Your Voice is Power” educational collaboration underscores the partners’ continued commitment to encourage K-12 students to share their perspectives on equity while learning to code new music remixes.
Students will use EarSketch, Georgia Tech’s learn-to-code-through-music platform, to remix beats and create their own magic. The song selection features Pharrell’s “Entrepreneur,” Alicia Keys’ “Underdog” and Khalid’s “New Normal.”
To further prepare the young competitors, the initiative includes five modules with lesson plans to not only teach coding but also serve as a conversation starter about the importance of equity and social justice.
The timely launch tees up the program’s participation in Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek), an annual call to action to inspire kids to learn computer science, advocate for equity, and celebrate contributions to the technology field. As a CSEdWeek sponsor, “Your Voice is Power” will host a panel and join “Hour of Code” events during the national observance.
“The ‘Your Voice is Power’ collaboration is a truly interdisciplinary experience that highlights the roles we can all play in the path towards equity,” said Roxanne Moore, senior research engineer, Georgia Tech.
“We’re not just building STEM and computer science skills—we’re showing students how these skills can empower them to use their voice and to create their own future,” she added.
Computer science (CS) is the fastest-growing profession within the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) field, but only 8% of STEM graduates earn a CS degree, with just a small percentage coming from underrepresented communities.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics forecasts that the market for CS professionals will grow 13% between 2020 and 2030, with wages for such occupations well above the average job salary.
