Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/646725
28 | I NSIGH T • M a r c h 2 0 1 6 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m B y S e a n P. J o h n s o n R ustin Keller just won't accept what the numbers say. ere is a particular number that's been bugging him for a while, and it involves a topic near and dear to his heart. e number is 14 percent, which represents the number of students in Northeast Wisconsin interested in pursuing a career in information technology once they reach high school, according to a recent IT talent study conducted by the Northeast Wisconsin Educational Resource Alliance. As a growing IT talent gap tightens its grip around the region, Keller knows more must be done to change that number before the regional economy is irreparably harmed. "at is the statistic that has just been bugging me, that just 14 percent of students aer grade 8 want anything to do with IT," says Keller, executive vice president and chief operating officer at J. J. Keller & Associates and a member of the Northeast Wisconsin IT task force. "If we want to change those percentages, we need to get to the kids earlier. We need to get to them in sixth and seventh grade." It was a tour of the new Boys & Girls Club of the Fox Valley in Menasha that sparked an opportunity to do just that. During that visit, Keller got to talking with Boys & Girls Club CEO Greg Lemke-Rochon about programs that could expose the target demographic to the opportunities and skills involved in IT. Megabites, the resulting collaboration, launched at Appleton's Roosevelt Middle School in February with 35 students from the Boys & Girls Club's aer school program there. Twice a week, the students will explore multiple facets of the IT industry, from programming to animation to web design. With financing provided by the J.J. Keller Foundation, the new program combines the expertise and resources of Fox Valley Technical College, the Making the right connections Collaborative program provides hands-on IT experience to boost interest I N S I G H T O N E D U C AT I O N Boys & Girls Club and the Appleton School District. "While we've had the technology and programs, what we have lacked in the past was the expertise," Lemke-Rochon says of the new program. "FVTC will bring the expertise and we can deliver that education during non-school hours." e student interest caught educators a bit off guard. "We were expecting 12 to 15 and we got 35," says Dan Kretz, an instructor in information technology at FVTC. "We FVTC Information Technology Instructor Dan Kretz explains the new Boys & Girls Club Megabites program to Gov. Scott Walker as students begin working on IT related projects at Roosevelt Middle School in Appleton. C O U R T E S Y O F F O X V A L L E Y T E C H N I C A L C O L L E G E