The "INTER" of INTERalliance is an acronym that describes series of actions and commitments of the INTERalliance members:
Identify …Cincinnati's young IT talent in 10th grade or sooner…
Nurture …the students with REAL growth opportunities and connections to REAL people who will help them with their interests and careers…
Train …the participants in truly usable technical and leadership skills that will make them the most desired employment candidates possible…
Employ …the program participants locally, first in paid summer IT positions for high school students, then in co-ops during undergrad and graduate programs, and ultimately in local positions that offer world-class challenges, compensation, and career growth that compete well with other technology corridors around the USA…
Retain …the talent locally by making the Greater Cincinnati Region as fertile an environment for career growth as anywhere in the nation, and return the Region to "most livable city" status by harnessing and brokering all of the area's economic development, cultural, educational, and sociological resources to meet that challenge.
How Did It Go? The 2008 IT Careers Camp Participants Speak Up!
During eight one-week sessions in July and August this summer, 160 11th-graders from all over the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region got a unique opportunity to figure out if Information Technology is a part of their passion and maybe their futures!
The INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati sponsored programs hosted at the University of Cincinnati's College of Business, Miami University's College of Engineering, and Northern Kentucky University's College of Informatics. The students from 39 area high schools competed on corporate-sponsored teams as they took on problem-solving challenges behind-the-scenes at the region's leading employers. They lunched with executives and managers who wanted them to know about employment opportunities after college. And they buckled down every afternoon and evening to use their brains to help someone less fortunate, and create a "communication enhancer" invention for children with disabilities at their "customer" – Stepping Stones Center in Indian Hill for the UC program, Abilities First in Middletown for the Miami program, and Redwood Rehab in Ft Mitchell for the students participating at NKU.
The goals were straightforward: To show these best-and-brightest young local talent 1) that "it's cool to be smart", 2) that the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region ROCKS!, and 3) that there are more career opportunities right here in technology for the top students, particularly in Information Technology, than they could possibly imagine, and that THEY, the local students of the Greater Cincinnati Region, have HOME-TEAM ADVANTAGE!
Some participants' reviews are offered here. Hope you enjoy as much as they did!
