Our Story

Working Together for What We Believe In

The Missouri State CODERS Project began with a conversation between Dr. Keri Franklin and Dr. Dave Cornelison. Both were working in educational outreach—Dr. Franklin in writing and Dr. Cornelison in physics. Eventually, that led to them assembling a team of world-class educators across the university to make a plan for this, the CODERS Project and write a proposal for an Education, Innovation, and Research grant through the U.S. Department of Education. 

These grants are like unicorns, and after writing four of them, we are happy to report that we were awarded a $4 million Education, Innovation, and Research Early Phase grant. The project title is Computer Science Opportunities, Development, and Education in Rural Schools (CODERS). This award is a culmination of decades of work by scholars in the field of computer science, physics, math, writing, and education.  We are proud of the fact that the CODERS team at Missouri State consists of 7 full-time faculty with PhD in their respective fields. Reviewers on the grant mentioned the amount of expertise including the number of years we have worked in schools with projects you may have heard of—Phyz-Biz, Ozarks Writing Project, Getting it W.R.I.T.E in Mathematics, Science Olympiad, or Missouri Literacy Academy.   

Sometimes we feel a little forgotten at Missouri State University, and we are proud to support underserved schools with resources that will help teachers and students to engage with computer science, computational thinking, physics, and writing in earlier and earlier grades.   

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We are excited to learn your needs and partner with you to provide resources, support, and teamwork in an ever-changing world of science and technology. This is not a one-off for us. Missouri State will be here for the long-term to assist you.   

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Thank you again for your support and congratulations! This is as much your award as ours, and we are excited to begin working with you. proud to be a force for positive transformation.