60+ Kids Learn Coding, Robotics at Free Augusta U Cyber Camp

For edtech builders, this camp is a live test of early computer science exposure at scale: 60-plus K-12 students, a free week, low-cost hardware, cybersecurity ethics, and a near-peer mentor model powered by returning alumni. The VICEROY funding source turns a local summer program into a policy-backed pipeline — one that could become a repeat buyer and distribution channel for curriculum and hardware vendors targeting younger learners.

More than 60 elementary and middle school students participated in a free, week-long coding and robotics camp at Augusta University's School of Computer and Cyber Sciences in early July 2026, an outreach effort that doubles as a workforce-development play for the nation's cybersecurity talent pipeline. The VICEROY Kids Coding Camp introduced students from across the Augusta area to programming fundamentals, robotics, cybersecurity, cyber ethics, and internet safety — a deliberately broad curriculum aimed at lowering the barrier to entry for computing education years before students typically encounter formal CS coursework in high school or college.

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Augusta University's School of Computer and Cyber Sciences operates as one of these designated institutes, making the camp a federally supported pipeline initiative rather than a one-off community event.

The program's policy origins give it more significance than a typical summer camp. VICEROY was created by Congress under the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, signed into law in 2018, with an explicit mandate to build the nation's cybersecurity workforce by backing Cyber Institutes at colleges and universities. Augusta University's School of Computer and Cyber Sciences operates as one of these designated institutes, making the camp a federally supported pipeline initiative rather than a one-off community event. For the edtech sector, this matters because federal funding for early computer science and cybersecurity exposure is now a durable, codified priority — and university-led camps are emerging as a delivery mechanism alongside commercial platforms, school districts, and nonprofit programs.

Instructionally, the camp paired low-cost hardware with progressively sequenced software concepts. Campers built programs for Micro:bits, the pocket-sized microcontrollers that have become a staple of K-12 CS education due to their affordability and accessibility. Older or more advanced students tackled Python lessons, while AI experiments introduced machine learning concepts in an age-appropriate format. The robotics thread culminated in Cutebots — small wheeled robots students programmed to race against each other — plus a demonstration involving three doctoral students who brought a robotic dog to show how programming, AI, and robotics integrate in real applications. Professor Michael Nowatkowski framed the pedagogy around computational thinking, telling JagWire the goal was "to introduce them to computational thinking as a way to bring them into programming," and emphasizing that children need to understand "there are pathways for them to learn more about programming." That pathways framing aligns tightly with career-connected learning models gaining traction in edtech product design.

The camp also showcased a near-peer mentoring structure that has implications for how programs scale. College students and graduates returned to guide younger learners. Madeleine White, a junior in Cyber Operations, attributes her own interest in computer science to programs like this one. Gabriel Horton, who earned both a bachelor's in cybersecurity and a master's in information security management from the school, returned as a camp mentor for his second year. This alumni-return model reduces instruction costs while creating visible role models for campers — a retention strategy that commercial coding platforms increasingly try to replicate through community features, alumni networks, and portfolio-based progression. Camper Elijah Walker's comment that he sometimes imagines himself "coding or creating a robot" in the future captures the aspirational outcome these programs target.