Amazon, Pharrell Williams, and Georgia Tech have announced an initiative that will encourage middle and high school students to learn to code while working on new music remixes.
This program is an educational collaboration called “Your Voice is Power.” It is being done in conjunction with Amazon, Pharrell’s education equity nonprofit YELLOW, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The “Your Voice is Power” collaboration will allow students to “explore how computer
science, music, and entrepreneurship can advance equity.” The students will use Georgia Tech’s EarSketch platform and code a remix of Pharrell‘s latest song “Entrepreneur” featuring Jay-Z. The submitted remixes will be judged based on the quality of music, code, and messaging by a panel of industry professionals.“This collaboration between YELLOW, Amazon, and Georgia Tech is a celebration of Black creators and change-makers,” said Pharrell in a written statement. “YELLOW at
its core believes that education is a pathway to success. Teaching kids future-ready skills like coding, especially those kids for whom opportunities like this have not been equally distributed, is how we prepare the next generation of entrepreneurs.”“Your Voice Is Power” is hoping to attract up to 100,000 students as a way to add unique, meaningful, and entrepreneurial-minded content to their current virtual learning experiences.
“YELLOW’s mission is to even
the odds for kids through education. We’re teaching for the future,” said Mike McGalliard, CEO of YELLOW. “Georgia Tech’s EarSketch platform is a powerful tool for kids to explore the connection between coding and creativity. In working alongside Amazon to give kids access to platforms like this, we can help them bring their ideas to life.”Any and all middle and high school students from across the United States and Canada can
participate in “Your Voice is Power.” The first round will run from January 19 through March 12. The second round of the competition will start March 15 and run through June 4. Students who submit their remixes to the competition will be judged by a panel of Amazon engineers, Amazon Music team members, and music industry professionals.Teachers and students can visit AmazonFutureEngineer.com to get started and to learn more.