Companies & Organizations Teach Over 10,300 Hours of Code to Local Students

Milwaukee, Wisc. December 16, 2019 — NEWaukee and the Milwaukee Tech Hub Coalition challenged companies, organizations and tech professionals to teach at least 5,000 hours of code to regional students during Computer Science Week (December 9-15).

Over 28 local companies and organizations responded to the call. According to pre- and post-event surveys, more than 250 volunteers taught over 10,300 hours, surpassing the original challenge goal. This is the second year the business, non-profit and education communities have come together to provide STEM learning opportunities at this scale.

“The response to the challenge has been overwhelming,” says Angela Damiani, CEO and Co-Founder of NEWaukee. “Local employers are showing that they are committed to fostering young tech talent.”

Participating companies and organizations included Accenture, Advocate Aurora Health, Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, Bright Cellars, Carroll University, Continuus Technologies, Discovery World, Ever-Green Energy, Gearbox Labs, gener8tor, GE Healthcare, Islands of Brilliance, Kohl’s, Medical College of Wisconsin, Microsoft, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Northwestern Mutual, Opus College of Engineering Marquette University, PKWARE, Rising Tide Analytics, Rockwell Automation, SHARP Literacy, SysLogic and more. Together, participants hosted more than 85 events throughout the week.

Computer science drives growth and innovation throughout the economy and society, but according to Code.org, only 42 percent of Wisconsin high schools teach computer science. Coding is best learned early – the earlier children are exposed to fundamental coding topics, the more they absorb the concepts.

As reported by Code.org, Wisconsin currently has nearly 7,000 open computing jobs, but in 2017 the state only had 1,190 computer science graduates. Of those graduates, only 17% were female. To build the talent needed to be successful in the digital future, the Milwaukee region must establish a strong ecosystem that includes building classroom capacity for STEM education.

To learn more about the Milwaukee Tech Hub Coalition, visit mketech.org.

Code.org is a 501c3 public non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Its vision is that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer programming. After launching in 2013, Code.org organized the Hour of Code campaign – which has introduced over 100 million students to computer science to date – and partnered with 70 public school districts nationwide to expand computer science programs. Code.org is supported by philanthropic donations from corporations, foundations and generous individuals, including Microsoft, Facebook, Infosys Foundation USA, Amazon, and others. For more information, please visit: code.org.

NEWaukee is a social architecture agency that designs memorable in-person experiences that create a sense of belonging inside the communities and companies they work with. Visit www.newaukee.com to learn more.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.