We want to ensure that Mississippi kids become technology creators, not just technology consumers.
– Randy Lynn, MWB/Kids Code Mississippi
The US Department of Labor forecasts that there will be the need for an additional 1 million jobs in coding and computer science by the year 2020. We believe that Mississippi can play a pivotal role in leading the developing innovation economy.
To promote awareness of the opportunities that exist for Mississippians, MWB’s Fast Forward Mississippi¬†initiative is powering a special Kids Code Mississippi¬†event – an interactive briefing specifically for legislators. The event – powered by leading Mississippi technology company C Spire – will be held Monday 3/14 at 9 a.m. at the Mississippi Children’s Museum.
Deemed the Bytes & Bites event (we’ll explain in a bit), the event will pair logistics with Mississippi students to step through brief coding tutorials on various open source platforms. Following this exercise, participants will hear remarks on the opportunities in computer science from Governor Phil Bryant, C Spire senior Vice President Eric Graham, Mike Mulvihill from the Mississippi Department of Education, sports star/education advocate Deuce McAllister, Senator Brice Wiggins, Emily Hoff of the Mississippi Children’s Museum, and special guest¬†Alexandra Vlachakis from Code.org.
Since this event is happening on 3/14 (Pi Day), we’ll also be celebrating careers in STEM by serving ‚Äì you guessed it ‚Äì Mississippi-baked pies!