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How Schools Prepare the Next Generation to Enter a Digital Workforce
Credit: LinkedIn
When Sierra Acy was in high school she knew she was interested in computer science. Luckily, her high school was an exception in the United States — it offered computer science courses. "I took Intro Computer Science and the following year I took AP Computer Science," Acy says.
Early on at Disney, Acy heard about a volunteer program where people working in the tech industry could go into high schools and help teach computer science courses, giving students a chance to interact with people who actually use the content they're teaching every day and to help classroom teachers gain better understanding of the subject matter to improve the computer science offerings in the future. She leapt at the chance.
"During my high school experience, neither of the computer science courses I took were as well done or put together as they could have been," she says. "As is the case a lot of the time, the teachers weren't actually trained in the computer science industry or any of the technical aspects of the field, they were just kind of put into the position and told to go."
Women who try AP Computer Science in high school are 10 times more likely to major in it in college, according to a 2007 research study by the College Board.
Acy is now volunteering approximately 10 hours a week, along with a small team of others at Disney, to co-teach the AP Computer Science course at Walla Walla High School in southeastern Washington.
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