U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr., joined by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, Rhode Island Gov. Gina M. Raimondo and Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Ken Wagner, will visit Rhode Island on Monday, Dec. 5 to celebrate the state’s strong work on education and to kick off Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 5-11.

King will first visit West Warwick High School in West Warwick, where he will receive a computer coding demonstration by students and discuss with students, educators, and staff the important role that technology plays in our everyday lives and how computational literacy is rapidly emerging as an essential skill for today’s students. Earlier this year, Raimondo launched Computer Science for Rhode Island (CS4RI), positioning the state to lead with one of the most comprehensive computer sciences initiatives in the country. Rhode Island is on track to put computer science in every public school by December 2017 to ensure that every student, at every level, has access to this critical skill as early as kindergarten.

Later that morning, King will travel to Providence Career and Technical Academy in Providence. He will observe a welding demonstration by students and meet with students, educators, and staff about one of the career and technical training (CTE) programs the state has launched in partnership with General Dynamics Electric Boat. When students successfully complete the program and graduate, they will be hired at Electric Boat to work on the Ohio replacement submarines (the largest contract in U.S. Navy history) and continue their education at the Community College of Rhode Island and/or New England Institute of Technology as part of their employment. With this initiative, Rhode Island is preparing students with the skills they need for good, family-supporting jobs in advanced manufacturing and ensuring Rhode Island businesses have access to highly-skilled graduates ready to enter challenging careers.