Make beats. Learn code. Promote equity.

Pharrell Williams, Georgia Tech, TakingITGlobal, and Amazon invite you to engage your students in an inspiring new learning experience that explores the ways music, computer science, and entrepreneurship can be tools to advance racial equity.
About




Amazon, Georgia Tech, TakingITGlobal, and Pharrell Williams’ philanthropic organization, YELLOW, invite you to engage your students in the Your Voice Is Power learning experience and coding competition.
Students explore how computer science, music, and entrepreneurship can advance equity. Using Georgia Tech’s EarSketch platform, students code a 30 second – 3 minute musical remix using Pharrell’s new song “Entrepreneur“. Submitted remixes will be judged based on quality of music, code, and messaging by a panel of industry professionals.
Canadian students can compete with their class or on their own from February 1, 2021 to June 4, 2021. One student in Canada will win a $5,000 USD scholarship or grant to start a business, and one teacher in Canada will receive $1,000 CAD for above and beyond instruction.
Canada Competition Timeline
Opens: February 1, 2021 Closes: June 4, 2021 Winners Announced: Late June |
Curriculum
Bring the full experience to your classroom with the lessons below. Each module is written to take 60 minutes to complete and includes all instructional materials.
Module 0 Optional: Intro to EarSketch Students create an EarSketch account and gain a basic understanding of the coding platform | Module 1 Message in the Music Students explore how to decode the message in the music and embed messages in their code with comments. |
Module 2 Layers of Injustice Students examine the “layers” of both racism and music and code their own song layers with variables. | Module 3 Set Your Own Tempo Students hear stories of amazing entrepreneurs who “set their own tempo” before coding their own unique 16 measure song. |
Module 4 Song Structure Students discover the roles people can play in the fight for racial justice and code their own song structure with custom functions. | Module 5 Call to Action Students finish coding their remix of Entrepreneur and use their “voice” to embed a unique message to advance racial equity. |
Teacher Training
Expand your instructor skillset by attending any of our free training sessions.
New to EarSketch Teacher Training | New to EarSketch? Bring the excitement of teaching coding through music to your class in this all-in-one training session. We’ll cover the curriculum, the competition submission process, and the basics of EarSketch in a fun, two-hour session. |
Curriculum Only | Already familiar with EarSketch? Join us for this one-hour power session that will leave you ready to teach the YVIP Curriculum. Learn to decode the message in music and how entrepreneurship, computer science, and music are pathways to equity. |
Advanced EarSketch | If you’ve been teaching with EarSketch for more than a year and are ready to learn some advanced features, this workshop is for you! Join music technologist Chalece de la Coudray and take your EarSketch skills to the next level. |
Racial Equity Discourse for Educators | Eager to deepen your ability to lead racial equity discussions in the classroom? Join this 90-minute session to develop the mindsets and skills necessary to facilitate diversity, equity, and inclusion discussions with middle and high school students. |
Canada Awards List
All song submissions will be judged by employees of the sponsor organizations including Amazon and YELLOW professionals. Georgia Tech will select the winners. Students can submit as many times as they’d like. Canadian student prizes will be awarded in late June.
Students

Grand Prize Winner: $5000 USD scholarship or grant to start a business
4 Finalists: $200 CAD Amazon gift Card
40 Semi-finalists: $25 CAD Amazon gift card
Teachers

One teacher will win a $1000 CAD cash prize for above and beyond instruction with Your Voice is Power.
Two of last year’s winners were first-time EarSketch users! Winners will be selected across all ranges of ability, age, and experience.
FAQ
The provided curriculum is broken into 5-6 modules. Each module is written to take one class period (60 minutes) of instruction; however, teachers may move through the modules at their own pace. Each module comes with a scripted lesson plan, slide decks, digital student materials, exemplar code examples, and engaging videos! Review the materials to allot the time needed for your class to complete. All materials are aligned to the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards.
Both US and Canadian students should submit their song utilizing the final submission link inside the EarSketch platform.
All curriculum materials can be used digitally or can be printed out. No other equipment is required.
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTION:
Sabrina Grossman, Program Director, CEISMC, Georgia Tech
Chalece DeLaCoudray, Innovator in Residence, CEISMC, Georgia Tech, chaleced.com
Joycelyn Wilson, PhD, Assistant Professor of Hip Hop Studies and DM, HipHop2020 Innovation Archive, Georgia Tech
Roxanne Moore, PhD, Senior Research Engineer, Georgia Tech
Stephanie Walters, YELLOW Foundation
Justin Funiliar, YELLOW Foundation
Mike Galliard, YELLOW Foundation
Krystal Hardy Allen, CEO, K. Allen Consulting
Jaritza Alecon, Associate Consultant, K. Allen Consulting
VIDEOGRAPHY:
Tekquiree Spencer, Executive Producer, Spencers4Hire
Jermaine R. Spencer, Executive Producer, Spencers4Hire
Beatrice Dixon, Featured Entrepreneur, Co-Founder of the Honey Pot Company
Mike Larson, Sound Engineer and Music Producer
CREATIVE:
Kass Escalera, Design Education Diversity, Amazon
Ashley Glover, UX Designer, Amazon Fire TV
Jimin Kim, UX Visual Designer, Amazon
Matt Giuliari, UX Designer, Amazon Devices Design & Services Group ,
Rina King, UX Visual Designer, Amazon Devices Design & Services Group
TECHNICAL:
Jason Freeman, Chair, School of Music, Georgia Tech
Luke Heerman, Application Developer Lead, School of Music, Georgia Tech
Love Park, Education Outreach Coordinator, CEISMC, Georgia Tech