NORCROSS, GA – Recording artist Ciara returned to the city where she launched her career to surprise students at an Atlanta-area STEM high school Monday.
The R&B artist sat in on a class at Paul Duke Stem High, a Norcross school which focuses on science, technology, engineering and math education. Students there have been using computer coding skills to remix her songs “Melanin”and “Set.”
Ciara spoke to the class and watched students rework her music as they participated in a competition sponsored by Amazon's future engineer program. The teenagers used EarSketch, a platform developed by Georgia Institute of Technology, that teaches computer science through music remixing, research engineer Roxanne Moore told WSB-TV.
The students will submit their creations for judging and could win Amazon gift cards or a trip to Seattle to present their work, according to the competition rules.
Ciara moved to Georgia as a teenager and graduated from a high school outside of Atlanta before joining the hip hop group “Hearsay" and eventually beginning her career as a songwriter and solo performer.