The Clinton County school district has recently been awarded another state grant, according to Instructional Supervisor Paula Little.

The district was awarded an Advanced Placement Computer Science Initiative grant from the Kentucky Department of Education.

Little said that as a result of the grant, Clinton County High School will be teaching Advanced Placement principles of computer science beginning with the upcoming 2017-18 school year.

Courtney Claywell Norris will be attending a week-long training session in Houston, Texas this coming summer to learn how to teach the new course. There will also be components of the new computer program specific for middle and elementary grades so students can begin learning about computer science at an early age, explained Little.

Norris was accepted into the Kentucky Computer Science Principles (CSP) cohort training and in addition, Lora Grant was accepted into the Computer Science Discoveries (CSD) cohort training, both being in Houston this summer.

Since the advanced computer science technology program is geared to aid students on all ages, a teacher from Albany Elementary will be attending a one-day Computer Science Fundamentals (CSF) workshop in July at Bryan Station High School in Lexington, Kentucky.

“We hope that many high school students take advantage of this great opportunity,” said Little “and sign-up for computer science classes.” There are no pre-requirements and it also counts as a math credit for students who take the course.

Little said the grant funds will cover the cost of getting the new program started and it will become self-funding after the first year.

Little noted there were a lot of advantages in such an advance class, noting it would introduce students to a growing field, relevant to today’s job market. “Students who take the course will also find it to be ‘interesting and fun,’” she concluded.