Discussion of IA education

[Gershom Rogers <gerogers AT cisco.com>]

Hi. I am a new member of AIfIA.

I've been working for Cisco Systems for many years, and I've had the 
privilege to be involved in an "ementoring" program that began at our Cisco 
campus in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. The original goal 
was to work with the Cisco Networking Academy students, but this year I 
have shifted my focus to work with the students who are studying Web 
Design/Digital Media at nearby Chapel Hill High School.

My main reason for writing to you is to let you know about a program that 
makes an "IT" curriculum available to high school students. Some of the 
students that I have been working with at Chapel Hill High School are 
enrolled in that program. Here is the school's Academy of Information 
Technology page:
http://www.chapelhillacademy.com/ithome.html

As you can see, students take "Introduction to the Internet" during their 
sophomore year, and have the opportunity to further study topics of 
interest to them, including web design, during their senior year.

This curriculum was developed by the National Academy Foundation (NAF), and 
it is now being taught in more than 90 public high schools nationwide.
http://www.naf.org/theacademies/infotech

It seems to me that there might be an opportunity here for the IA community 
to work with the NAF to enhance their curriculum.

I would certainly be willing to assist in that regard, if there is interest.

Gershom Rogers
Program Manager
Cisco Technical Support
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/support/index.html