The Kirtland School District is preparing to roll out new courses that will provide middle and high school students with programming experience. The courses will give students the opportunity to earn industry-recognized credentials and participate in internships, said Superintendent Chad VanArnhem. A district presentation indicated that the courses will be launched with the support of a $277,895 Career Tech Education Equipment Grant from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. “Our students will get industry-authentic workforce experience and real-world software development projects alongside the important skills that students are developing in their courses,” VanArnhem said in an email. Starting in early 2025, the district plans to pilot instruction in the Python programming language to seventh- and eighth-grade students in its Lego Robotics classes. It then plans to begin offering a nine-to-12 week Python rotation for all seventh-graders and a nine-to-12 week rotation for eighth-graders in the 2025-26 school year. “By engaging students in grades 7-8, we will create a structured and rigorous feeder pathway that can significantly grow the number of students entering and completing the Software Development CTE pathway in grades 9 and 10 at our high school,” stated a district presentation. The district also expressed plans to offer one Python course for high school students in the 2024-25 school year and one to two courses in the 2025-26 school year. Kirtland’s proposed Python program also includes a 9- to 14-week remote internship, according to the district presentation. A software developer will mentor a student, while the student will work on a Python project. The district’s grant application listed information technology on a list of “the most in-demand industries” in Ohio and the region, citing data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. “Python is the most broadly adopted programming language across the software industry, and is continuing to grow in ubiquity due to its use in high need fields such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity,” the application stated. VanArnhem said that the curriculum and professional development will come from TechSmart, while Kirtland teachers will teach the classes. The district will also partner with Interalliance, Standex and Forward Edge for internships and work-based learning. The district said in the application that it also intends to design a new tech lab area “that emulates an authentic software development workspace.” The Kirtland School District was one of 34 Career Tech Education Equipment Grant recipients announced earlier in the fall, according to a state news release. The grant period lasts for three years. The district said in its grant application that it intends to fund the program after the grant ends, and that the only continuing cost it expects after the grant period will be an annual curriculum site license. “We are very excited about the opportunities that this grant will afford our students to be better prepared with career technical skills when they graduate from Kirtland,” VanArnhem said. “This also addresses the growing need for workforce-ready high school graduates that has been expressed by local businesses and the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.”