Amazon.com Inc. donated $25,000 to Arlington nonprofit Boolean Girl to support the organization’s workshops that teach young students how to code and build electronics.
Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) gift from November boosts the Clubhouse educational program to meet weekly instead of monthly. The program will meet Saturdays starting Jan. 22 and run through May at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church, Boolean Girl announced Wednesday.
“Amazon is committed to expanding access to STEM education through our partnership with Boolean Girl and the launch of our own initiatives such as Amazon Future Engineer," Patrick Phillippi, Amazon's senior manager of external affairs, said in a statement to the Washington Business Journal. "It is critical that we equip our children with the knowledge and skills to lead in an ever-changing and increasingly complex economy.”
Participants, who are female and nonbinary students in grades three through eight, are taught to code, how to invent and build electronics and how to navigate digital devices with safety.
"At Boolean Girl, our Clubhouse program allows students to learn coding and engineering in a welcoming, collaborative environment. We are so grateful that Amazon has invested in the local community by supporting the Clubhouse program," Sarah Eastman, Boolean Girl’s co-founder, said in a statement. "Their generosity enables us to provide robust, high-quality STEM education to girls, underrepresented groups and low-income kids throughout Northern Virginia and D.C."
Boolean Girl provides computer equipment for participants, who can attend each week or drop into individual classes. The cost is $25 per session or $75 for four sessions, though scholarships are available. The Clubhouse program is in-person and requires participants — who, at full capacity, total 30 — to have Covid vaccinations, wear masks and receive temperature checks.
Each workshop lasts for three hours with designated lesson plans for different skills and ages, and the classes have a 1:5 instructor-to-participant ratio, Brian Moran, co-founder of Boolean Girl, told the Washington Business Journal.
Moran added that Amazon’s gift contributes to the cost of attendance. He’s hoping another local business will contribute snacks for students.
“We do [charge] $25 per child to encourage people to not sign up then skip, thus taking a seat someone else could use,” he said. “We offer unlimited scholarships so there really is no barrier to participation.”
Last year, Boolean Girl and Amazon announced the nonprofit had received a $1,000 through Amazon Web Services’ Nonprofit Credit Program to cover IT expenses to run the camps for local students.
The donation comes as Amazon continues to build out its second headquarters in Arlington County. Metropolitan Park, the first newly constructed phase of the company’s HQ2, is on track for delivery in 2023. The company expects construction on the second phase, called PenPlace, to start this year, pending county approval, and finish by 2025. The second phase will also include a permanent home for Arlington Community High School, funded by Amazon.
The company has its sights on 2030 to fill its HQ2 offices with at least 25,000 workers, incentivized by an agreement with Virginia that would exchange employment for at least $550 million in cash grants. Amazon has already committed millions in philanthropic donations to schools and educational outfits in Greater Washington in an effort to grow the region's tech workforce to meet its needs.
