Camps Focus on Growing the Region’s Future IT Talent
Leading employers and industry groups have joined forces with TECH CORPS and RITE (Northeast Ohio’s Regional Information Technology Engagement) to deliver the highly acclaimed High School Coding Camps to Northeast Ohio high school students this summer.
This week-long experience is designed to engage students in hands-on, interactive coding activities. The students learn industry standard programming languages and through a series of labs and activities they will be exposed to the same challenges software developers encounter every day. In addition to developing technical and 21st century skills, the students interact with technology professionals from NEO companies as well as learn about educational and career pathways in the region.
Now in its third year, the program has grown to eight camps. Of these five are the introductory C# camps and two are Cyber Security camps. There is one all Girl’s camp hosted by Baldwin Wallace University and sponsored by OEC. The camps are sponsored by Bendix, Eaton Corp., NEOSIM, OEC, Progressive Insurance, and The J.M. Smucker Company.
“Based on the Ohio Means Jobs site, there are over 20,000 open IT jobs in Northeast Ohio,” said Kathy Golden, EVP & CTO of OEC and RITE Board Member. “and the demand for IT talent is only going to grow. These young people are building the skills and knowledge that employers like us need.”
Each camp is hosted by an institution of higher learning. The host schools include, The University of Akron, Baldwin Wallace University, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, Lorain County Community College, Cuyahoga Community College and Lakeland Community College.
To be considered for the camps students need to apply by April 30, 2017. The application includes a short essay and requires a teacher’s recommendation. Up to 20 students will be selected for each camp based on their application, essay, and letter of recommendation.
To apply: https://tinyurl.com/coding-camps