By Josh Staloch
Correspondent
ASHWAUBENON – The employment landscape in Wisconsin is changing, out of necessity as much as out of want.
Area leaders are getting the framework in place to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving skill set employers will have for their new recruits in the near future.
That means, among a multitude of other things, getting students involved in learning about the careers of tomorrow from as early an age as possible.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, at TitletownTech, representatives from CESA 7 and Microsoft, as well as local leaders in education and business, announced a Microsoft grant of $100,000 to CESA 7 and the effort to bring computer science (CS) and coding education to Northeast Wisconsin.
CESA 7, an educational service agency that coordinates with 38 school districts in eastern Wisconsin, including those in Brown County, presented the grant provided by TechSpark, a division of Microsoft dedicated to fostering economic opportunity, skills and employability in Wisconsin.
CESA 7 hopes to get to work on a curriculum for the program as soon as next month.
Under the program, all K-12 students will be exposed to computer science and coding.
As early as middle school, public and private school students will have the chance to begin to explore career pathways in CS and coding.
By high school, students will be able to choose from a variety of CS and coding courses, and students interested in the pathway will start seeing counselors as early as freshman and sophomore year to get on the correct course for the career of their choice.
Partners at NWTC, Fox Valley Tech, St. Norbert College and UW-Green Bay are planning on being a part of the process as well, all with the intent of providing an ecosystem for young people to hone the skills they’re going to need to compete in the workforce of tomorrow.
“If we do this correctly in Brown County, we then have the capacity to expand the program into our five other counties; Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Sheboygan and Calumet, all around the CESA 7 region,” said CESA 7 Agency Administrator Jeff Dickert. “If that works, then we have the capability to take it to the 11 other CESAs in the state that are interested and use this template to move this program across the state. That’s where our focus is at now.”
The business community, well aware of the changes on the horizon, also wants to get on board.
As recently reported in The Press Times, Schneider in Ashwaubenon will soon be adding a second floor to its data center at South Ridge Road and Allied Street where it will house its Innovation Center.
Speakers at the TitletownTech event are hoping forward planning such as this from the business sector, along with the goals taking shape in local education, will succeed in achieving a goal mentioned several times: Keeping brilliant, young people in Northeast Wisconsin where they grew up, when they graduate by fostering the kind of jobs and opportunities the next generation of professionals are going to be looking for as they begin their adult lives.
“The schools seem to be ready now,” Dickert said. “It’s the right time for this. We want to see our talented young people choosing to stay in the area for their careers. If they can see a path to a great career right here in the area that pays them well and is very exciting, it’ll be easier to do that. We’ve never intentionally coordinated this kind of thing before. I think if we do, the results are going to be fantastic.”