SAN FRANCISCO—More than 800 high school students from the Bay Area attended this year’s TEALS Computer Science Fair at the Mission Bay Conference Center last week.
TEALS stands for Technology, Education and Literacy in Schools; it is part of Microsoft Philanthropies. The TEALS program partners with Bay Area schools to increase access to computer science resources and opportunities for students. The high schoolers in attendance have been attending computer science classes through the TEALS program; the fair serves as a field trip and capstone to these classes.
Students met representatives from colleges such as Carnegie Mellon University and from tech companies including Google and Twitter. They also attended presentations and interactive workshops that aimed to provide students with an idea of what the computer science path looks like.
Renee Labutay, a senior at TEALS-partnered Hillsdale High School, said in an interview with NBC Bay Area: “I really enjoyed the tech companies that were able to come out and talk to us about their careers and opportunities they have.” Lubtay is among many students in attendance considering a four-year college program in computer science.
TEALS was founded in 2009 by Microsoft employee Kevin Wang and is supported by Microsoft Philanthropies, a branch of Microsoft dedicated to making strategic societal investments in order to increase “digital inclusion.” For more information on the TEALS program, visit their website here.
