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To help fill this need, New Haven-based District Innovation and Venture Center (DIVC), the nonprofit parent organization behind Holberton School in New Haven announced that it has partnered with Milestone C to provide groundbreaking STEM programs, along with teacher training and support, to Connecticut-based high schools at no cost.
This will be made possible through a grant from DIVC/Holberton School New Haven, which will be awarded to local schools, to cover the cost of implementing Milestone C’s program for their students.
“Connecticut, like many other states, is experiencing a severe lack of tech talent which often forces companies to relocate or look elsewhere for applicants.
This predicament originates from the fact that STEM education and tech talent pipelines weren’t invested in early enough,” said David Salinas, CEO and Founder of District Innovation and Venture Center.
“While recent legislation has prioritized the inclusion of computer science instruction in our educational system to address this issue, schools must now figure out how to identify, invest in and implement such training.
"Through our partnership with Milestone C we’ll be able to provide affordable hands-on and experiential STEM education to schools now, and start preparing students for careers that will actually be around tomorrow.”
State high schools can apply online for the grant which will be awarded to up to 10 local schools to cover the cost of implementing Milestone C’s Software Design & Integration and Robotics & Automated Systems programs for the 2020/2021 school year.
DIVC is a nonprofit started by District New Haven, which creates and invests in workforce development and educational programs to provide entrepreneurial support with the goal of accelerating outcomes for the region’s business ecosystem.
In September 2018, it licensed the first-ever franchise from San-Francisco-based Holberton School to bring its innovative higher-education program for full stack software engineering to Connecticut. Graduates have found jobs at LinkedIn, Google, Tesla, Docker, Apple, Dropbox, Facebook, Pinterest, Genentech, Cisco, IBM and more.
Orange-based Milestone C offers a project-based curricula to shape future STEM leaders by bringing internship-style experiences into the classroom.
“Milestone C was created to bring actual industry experiences and training to middle and high school students," said David Conelias, co-founder and COO of Milestone C. “We are excited to partner with Holberton School New Haven as they are a like-minded educational program. The impact we can have on individual students through immersive STEM education and career preparation, can in turn have a significant impact on our local economy.”
The grant application deadline is March 27, 2020.
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