‘Ignite My Future’ a TCS education program surpassed its five-year goal

‘Ignite My Future’ a TCS education program surpassed its five-year goal

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), leading global IT services, consulting, and business solutions organization, announced that its Ignite My Future in School (IMFIS) STEM/computer science education program, which was created in partnership with Discovery Education, the global leader in K-12 digital resources and professional learning, surpassed its five-year goal of reaching one million U.S. K-12 students, a full year ahead of schedule.

The pioneering program empowers educators to teach computational thinking, which are the critical skills that help students solve real-life problems and challenges by expressing them in a way that computers can solve.

In the wake of COVID-19, TCS moved the IMFIS program to a 100 percent virtual format, helping improve equity and access to high-quality digital content for educators and students, specifically those from under-resourced communities.

Launched in September 2017, the program has now empowered nearly 20,000 teachers and 1.1 million students across 353 school districts, across all 50 U.S. states. The top 10 states for classroom adoption are California, Texas, New York, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Educators across core subjects use lessons such as Build a movement, where students learn how data and algorithms impact something that ‘goes viral’; Outbreak, where students analyze how a virus spreads and can be contained; and Emoji Essay, where students use abstraction to explore language and communication.

“As a purpose-driven enterprise, at TCS we believe that it is our responsibility to make a lasting societal impact in local communities where we work and live,” said Surya Kant, Chairman of North America, TCS. “We are grateful to educators across the country for their efforts to adopt this new approach to teaching and learning. As we rebuild for a post-COVID-19 economy, these million young Americans and more will apply computational thinking skills to chart a new course for our nation and society.” 

“Ignite My Future in School impacted students in my classrooms by providing authentic learning experiences that challenged my students to use computational thinking skills to solve real-world problems,” said Jenna Rosienski, Assistant Principal – Franklin Middle School, Janesville, WS. “The program helps my district by bringing teachers together to engage transdisciplinary lessons for our students and evaluate their current content and practices to ultimately change how and what we teach and learn with students through the hands-on and engaging lessons that IMFIS provides.”