Students Showcase Computer Science, Tech Skills at Texas Capitol

From Google to Microsoft to Amazon, the jobs of the future require computer science (CS) skills. In March, 68 students gathered for Code @ the Capitol, an event where students presented CS projects to members of the Texas House of Representatives and Senate.

Code @ the Capitol was designed to highlight to state leaders the amazing things students can accomplish through CS education. Students from elementary to high school demonstrated coding projects focused on flooding awareness, robotics, autonomous cars, and cybersecurity, to name a few.

The event was presented by Computer Science for Texas (CS4TX), a coalition of industry partners including Google.org and Amazon, policy makers, parents, educators, and nonprofits all dedicated to improving CS education in Texas.

CS4TX partnered with The University of Texas at Austin's WeTeach_CS team for this event. WeTeach_CS directs the Texas CS Pipeline Initiative, a statewide network funded by the Texas Legislature in 2023 to build the state’s CS education capacity. Located at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, WeTeach_CS—a division of Expanding Pathways in Computing (EPIC)—has helped more than 640 Texas educators earn a CS teaching certificate since its inception, serving students from the state’s largest school districts like Houston ISD with over 200,000 students to the smallest school districts like Terlingua CSD, which has just 98 students.

Despite this progress, Texas still has a long way to go to bring CS to every student. Currently, just 46 percent of Texas high schools offer at least one CS course, according to EPIC’s Texas CS Education Data Dashboard. By comparison, 100 percent of Arkansas high schools offer at least one course. The national average is 60 percent.

“Every student can study computer science, so it’s our job as educators and legislators to ensure that they have a chance to do so.”

“Every student can study computer science, so it’s our job as educators and legislators to ensure that they have a chance to do so,” said EPIC Director Carol Fletcher. “If we want more Texas students to become the creators and innovators of tomorrow, we must build the capacity of our K-12 teachers to offer engaging and robust computer science learning experiences for every child.”

State Representatives AJ Louderback and James Talarico—as well as many staffers representing the offices of many Texas state policymakers—stopped by for a closer look at student projects.

“Computer science education is essential to equip students for the jobs and economy of the future,” said Talarico, a member of the House Committee on Public Education and a former Round Rock ISD teacher. “We must provide students with the tools, resources, knowledge, and skills to be successful, and that starts with providing a robust computer science education.”

Learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills are two examples of the wonderful benefits of STEM and computer science education.

Added Jim Morales, legislative director for state Senator Donna Campbell: “Learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills are two examples of the wonderful benefits of STEM and computer science education. These invaluable skills will provide our students with the traits needed for successful careers.”

Participating independent school districts for Code @ the Capitol included Pflugerville, Del Valle, Fort Bend, Northside, Houston, Lake Travis, Katy, Medina Valley, Fort Sam Houston, and Lufkin. Diocese of Austin Catholic Schools and Austin Achieve Public Schools also sent students.

Students Laiden Malone and Peyton Cunningham of the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy in Houston presented a project focused on increasing flood awareness during hurricane season.

“During Hurricane Beryl, cars in Houston were damaged because people couldn’t accurately gauge the depth of floodwater they were driving through. With this project, we want to use STEM skills to inform the public about the dangers of deep flood waters,” Malone said.

“Computer science education creates a wide variety of career paths for students,” Cunningham added. “Young people can attend camps and try various things to see if you enjoy it enough to pursue it in the future.”

Teachers lauded the opportunity for students to make the connection between computer science and endless possibilities.

“Code @ the Capitol was a great place for students to display and demonstrate their coding projects to a broader audience,” said Beatriz Valdez, a bilingual teacher at Ruth Barron Elementary School in Pflugerville ISD. “These experiences show students that if they want to pursue STEM and computer science careers, they are more than capable of doing so. ¡Todos pertenecen en la ciencias de computación! (Everyone belongs in computer science!)”