Today, September 10th, marks two years since the launch of Microsoft Youthspark, our company-wide initiative to create opportunities for millions of youth through more than 30 programs and partnerships with more than 350 youth-serving nonprofits, in 100+ countries around the world.
And we have some exciting news: Youthspark’s TEALS program (Technology Education And Literacy in Schools) is expanding. And it’s expanding right here in Chicago: with the first-ever TEALS school in Illinois: DePaul College Prep, part of the Archdiocese of Chicago!
DePaul College Prep (formerly Gordon Technical High School) was founded in 1952 at the request of Cardinal Samuel Stritch, who envisioned a new type of Catholic high school that included a technical curriculum—one that prepared students for college.
We at Microsoft Chicago are excited to lead the effort to bring the TEALS program to our beloved city. There are a bunch of resources out there online for learning digital literacy, such as Codecademy, Code.org, and more—the problem is, not every student has access to high-speed Internet connections and laptops at home. TEALS brings STEM education to them at school. Volunteer software engineers actually go into high school classrooms to teach computer-science concepts to participating students and their teacher—who will eventually take over the course—in the mornings before their day jobs.
In addition to the TEALS program at DePaul College Prep, the Microsoft stores in Illinois will be offering free fieldtrips throughout the school year that teach kids (ages 8-13) everything from coding to digital presentation creation.
The Microsoft Chicago team is always supporting STEM education initiatives—programs that channel students’ passion and ambition in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and our Technology and Civic Engagement department in Chicago will help direct these students to jobs in their field.
There are more than 2.3 million entry-level jobs in STEM fields open to graduates right now. Join us in expanding initiatives like TEALS. Let’s get kids on their way to fill them.
For more information on TEALS programs in other cities, both globally and in the United States, visit the Official Microsoft Blog.