Help Portland High School Students Learn Tech and Drupal

Hi all -

I have been working with Thompson Morrison to get some high school kids involved in DrupalCon Portland (20 are coming to the Build a Module training, and then to the Sprint!). He would love for members of the Drupal Community come out and show support for (and get involved with!) a new initiative he's working on. I can't make it because I have a board retreat, but I would be there otherwise! Here are the details for the May 18 meetup:

Overview: Oregon Innovation Academy

The Innovation Academy is bringing together students, teachers, and working professionals from the Northwest’s technology industries to empower students with new skills sets of the digital age.
Teams will work collaboratively to build software applications and other technology-based solutions that solve real world problems that exist within our community. The solutions that will emerge from these teams will be known as "Innovation for the Common Good."

The region’s first “Innovation Academy” will be launching at Franklin High School Saturday, May 18 from 2-5pm. The launch will offer students the opportunity to form project teams that will meet over the summer to work on their projects with industry mentors. New solutions in areas suchas education, the environment, energy and public safety will be explored.

Attendees at the launch event will preview a new community safety mobile app that is being developed by a team of Franklin and Wilson students working with industry experts and the Portland Police Bureau. Designed to improve communication and collaboration between district police officers and the neighborhoods that they serve, the new mobile app is an example of the kind of impact student-based innovation can bring to Oregon.

All students, teachers, industry professionals and passionate individuals are welcome to participate in the launch event. Once teams have been formed and projects are begun, their solutions will be demonstrated in a large community celebration when the school year resumes next fall.

Focused on creating new ways for students, teachers and industry professionals to collaborate, the Innovation Academy grew out of TechStart’s “Tech4Tomorrow” initiative. Its approach emphasizes the opportunity for students to gain the skills and contacts needed to succeed in the digital economy. The tight timelines, project-based nature, and professional mentoring of students creates an engaging, practical format for gaining professional skills while enhancing our entire community.

The joint initiative of TechStart, SUN, and Ideal Portland is being launched in collaboration with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Technology Inclusion Round Table, Microsoft Research, the America 21 Project, Technology Association of Oregon (TAO), Society for Information Management (SIM), Saturday Academy, Portland Workforce Alliance, City of Portland, Portland Development Commission and inspired by the Office of Oregon Governor Kitzhaber’s Scale Up event.

To find out how you and your organization can participate in one of the most dynamic educational opportunities in Oregon please contact Randy Macdonald randy@techstart.org at 503-806-6359 or Dwayne Johnson djohnson@idealportland.org at 971-217-7396. Volunteers for the event can register here: bitly.com/iafhs