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In an effort to encourage high school students to explore technology careers in the region, Miami University will host two IT Careers Camps - bringing together faculty-nominated high school students with some of the region's leading employers - to give kids a hands-on, in-depth look at what a career in information technology is like.
During the weeks of July 7 and July 21, 40 area high school students will stay on the Miami campus, while getting a view inside some of the region's leading companies. Students will be divided into teams sponsored by Cincinnati Bell, Citi, Lexis Nexis, P&G, Kroger, NCR, Toyota and WonderGroup. The students will roll up their sleeves every morning, going behind-the-scenes at these local businesses to experience IT in real-world settings. They will lunch each day with senior IT executives from the companies, gather up business cards for future resume mailing and hear why the region is a great place for a career.
"We want to start a dialogue with students who've finished 10th grade to let them know that information technology is fun and there are lots of exciting jobs in this region," said Douglas Troy, chair of computer science and systems analysis at Miami. "They don't need to leave this area to attend a great college or get a great job."
According to The INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati, which sponsors the IT camps, the region is full of Fortune 500 companies looking for young, local talent.
"We are exporting some of our best and brightest to other parts of the country," said Doug Arthur, of INTERalliance. "We have clearly not done enough to engage them and create a compelling reason for them to stay. We hope these camps will change that."
The students' capstone project is a competition among the teams to design a device that helps an adult with disabilities from Abilities First in Middletown. The INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati is a collaboration of local businesses and educators to stop "brain drain" and give students a reason to stay in the region. For more information, visit www.interalliance.org.
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