Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/895093
w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m N o v e m b e r 2 0 17 • I NSIGH T | 33 Brian Sommers (left) demonstrates and plays his Pong game against fellow student Nick Rexrode. Emily Nelsen (above) creates her video game. P H O T O S C O U R T E S Y O F D E N M A R K H I G H S C H O O L 2020, there will be approximately 4,000 unfilled jobs in Northeast Wisconsin with the region's current talent pipeline throughput. In 2016, unfilled IT positions are estimated to have cost the region $91 million in payroll. By 2021, those lost earnings will reach $203 million. e region needs more IT talent, and must compete with the rest of the country to find it. at's anything but easy for the school systems charged with training that talent. A reflection of the industry, technology teaching talent is in short supply, and a school might land a teacher for one year only to have him or her poached by a larger district offering more money the next. "e districts are facing the same challenges as the rest of the industry," Kim Iversen, executive director of the NEW IT Alliance, says. "It's a huge problem for them and the industry." at's where the TEALS program comes into play. Microso B y S e a n P. J o h n s o n I N S I G H T O N T E C H N O L O G Y E rin Draheim has always believed in sharing her IT knowledge. A senior soware engineer with Skyline Technologies, Draheim says her discovery of programming in high school opened a world of opportunities for her, and she wants to make sure others have that same chance. She is particularly interested in getting girls and children involved. No surprise, then, that she has been a dedicated volunteer in the Hortonville schools, helping with technology programs wherever and whenever she can. Naturally, when Hortonville High School was selected to participate in Microso Corp.'s TEALS program, she eagerly lent her expertise to both the Advanced Placement coding class and to the teaching staff to upgrade its expertise. If successful, not only will Northeast Wisconsin students do well on the AP exam, but the region will have improved Learning to fish digitally TEALS program aims to create sustainable IT talent pipeline in NE Wisconsin its ability to expand the IT talent pipeline to meet industry demands. "e goal is to create a self- sustaining program," Draheim says of the benefits of TEALS. "In a couple of years, these teachers will have the knowledge needed, and I can lend my time elsewhere, either here or in another school." Microso introduced its TEALS — Technology Education and Literacy in Schools — program to Wisconsin this past year to help educators fill a dangerously low-flowing talent pipeline in the IT industry in the region, state and country. Nationally, it is estimated there are nearly 50,000 unfilled jobs in the computer and information technology sectors, a number that is expected to grow more than 1.7 million. At the same time, just under 43,000 students earn computer science degrees each year. Regionally, research conducted for the NEW IT Alliance found that by [continued ] »