Microsoft Philanthropies’ Technology Education and Literacy in Schools program will expand to Wisconsin for the first time this fall.
TEALS, which aims to get computer science education into every high school, will be offered at 15 Wisconsin schools, four of which are in Milwaukee.
Messmer High School, Tenor High School, Veritas High School and University School of Milwaukee are introducing the program.
TEALS now operates in 300 U.S. schools, with 100 of those being added this fall. The program will recruit 1,100 volunteers to run TEALS courses nationwide this coming school year. Technology industry volunteers are recruited from local companies, and are paired with classroom teachers to introduce the curriculum. They co-teach the class during first period, so the volunteers can be finished before the work day begins.
The Milwaukee Institute, Milwaukee-based startup accelerator gener8tor, Thrivent Financial and Schneider National worked together to bring the TEALS program to Wisconsin.
“Not only will the TEALS program help to train more high school computer science teachers more quickly, it will strengthen connections between high schools, higher education and businesses through internships and events,” said Kathleen Gallagher, executive director of the Milwaukee Institute, a nonprofit focused on more robust technology and new company formation in southeastern Wisconsin. “We’re excited about the way TEALS will help us accelerate the development of our technology-based infrastructure, which is key to new job creation.”
“We are thrilled that Microsoft is investing in our region by establishing the TEALS program in support of computer science education in several Wisconsin high schools,” said Paul Mueller, chief information officer at Thrivent Financial, a nonprofit financial services organization. “Given the current and growing shortage of IT talent needed to drive our economy, TEALS is a welcome approach. It will accelerate the development of the talent we need, while investing in the futures of our students.”
Professionals interested in volunteering to teach TEALS can find out more here.
