Westlake Students Visit Hyland For Coding Lessons

WESTLAKE, OH — A group of Westlake High students took a trip to Hyland Software to learn about coding and information technology, the district said. The trip was part of the high school's partnership with Microsoft Philanthropies TEALS (Technology Education and Literacy in Schools).

The TEALS program pairs Westlake students with computer science professionals to teach computer science. Westlake High is one of only 625 TEALS schools in the U.S. About 45 students in Westlake have taken part in the program this year.

To further boost student interest in computer science, the students were taken to Hyland Software for some hands-on learning in a professional environment. Students spent time with experts like Chaz Wittal, a test analyst II, for Hyland.

“I like helping out with kids and giving them the opportunity to learn about careers in technology. This answers questions about what’s out there,” he said. “This gives them some options they didn’t know existed.”

Microsoft says that 58 percent of all new STEM-connected jobs are in computing, yet only 10 percent of STEM graduates have majored in computer science. TEALS is an attempt to spur interest in computers and introduce more qualified job candidates into the field.

Scott Seighman, a solutions architect at Red Hat, has been volunteering for TEALS for four years.

“Sometimes you make a connection with a couple of kids and open their eyes to things they hadn’t thought about before,” Seighman said. “I’ve talked to a lot of kids that went through the program that are now studying computer science.”