October, 2012

By Lori Harnick, General Manager, Microsoft Citizenship & Public Affairs

It’s estimated that by 2018, there will be 1.5 million computer science related jobs available in America, but only 29% of those jobs will be met by U.S. graduates.

At a time when five of the top ten fastest growing jobs will be in a computer-related field and two of the top three top bachelors’ salaries are in computer science and engineering, it’s concerning that only 0.6 percent of the nation’s 1.06 million public high school teachers have “Computer and Information Sciences” as their primary teaching assignment. There currently are just over 42,000 high schools in the United States but only 2,100 of them were certified to teach the Advanced Placement computer science course in 2011.

And, we see the impact on our students. Last year in the United States only 21,139 of 16 million students across the United States took the computer science Advanced Placement test – only 0.6% of all AP tests taken (about 3.4 million) that year.

As part of the recently announced Microsoft YouthSpark initiative - which aims to create opportunities for 300 million youth around the world - we are announcing the expansion of the Technology Education And Literacy in Schools (TEALS) program, which directly addresses the shortage of Computer Science teachers with a novel and highly successful approach.

The TEALS program recruits, mentors, and places high-tech professionals into schools that are struggling to provide strong computer science offerings on their own. Partnered with an in-class teacher, TEALS brings computer science expertise to students and teachers, without any training or development costs to schools. As preparation, TEALS volunteers go through an intensive three-month-long program in teaching philosophy, curriculum development, and classroom management.

The key to the success of the program is the in-class partnership between the teachers and the volunteers as discussed in a New York Times story on TEALS that appeared earlier this week:

“We are taking the kids farther than I could do,” said Michael Braun, a teacher at Rainier Beach High who is working with Microsoft volunteers.

The TEALS program was created in Washington State in 2010 by a Microsoft engineer, Kevin Wang, and has produced great results thus far. So, we decided to expand the program this year to California, Utah, North Dakota, Minnesota, Virginia and the District of Columbia. At this point in time, the program has 110 volunteer teachers in 37 schools reaching over 2,000 students and it’s poised for even greater growth. This could not happen without the tremendous partnership we’ve found in school districts across the country.

Through these partnerships and many others, we’re looking hard at how to address the problems facing young people today. It’s why we kick started a discussion last week about the need for a national talent strategy for the United States. Take a look and let us know what you think of our ideas….

Through partnership and creativity we can empower youth to change their world.

Looking for more information?

• You can find out more about Microsoft YouthSpark at: http://www.microsoft.com/youthspark
• If you’re interested in finding out more about TEALS visit the website.

What's participating in TEALS like for the volunteers?

Microsoft employees who participate in the TEALS program share their experiences.

We are delighted to announce the global availability of Windows 8 – the latest version of the Windows operating system – for eligible nonprofit organizations through our software donations program today.

Windows 8 represents a reimagining of Windows. It provides a personalized experience with a beautiful new user interface that puts you at the center. You get a great experience for entertainment and creating content all on the same device, either with touch or with a mouse and keyboard. No compromise. The Windows Store makes it super easy to discover, buy and install new apps in Windows 8.

To find out how you can order Windows 8 for your nonprofit organization through the Microsoft software donations program please visit this website.

Join our Windows 8 for nonprofits webinar this Thursday, November 1st 2012

TechSoup Global and Microsoft are hosting a special webinar for nonprofits this Thursday, November 1st 2012 at 2pm Eastern / 11am Pacific to introduce the new features of Windows 8.

Todd Rutherford, Senior Product Marketing Manager for Windows, will provide an overview of Windows 8 including a live demonstration. 

Register for the webinar here.

More about nonprofit software donations from Microsoft

Do you work with a nonprofit?  The Microsoft nonprofit software donation program, which is operated in partnership with TechSoup Global, provides software donations to eligible nonprofit organizations around the world.  Find out more at: http://www.microsoft.com/ngo .

Molly Bull, Senior Communications Manager, Microsoft Disaster Response

As has been widely reported, Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on the U.S. East Coast, with extensive shut-downs and evacuations from Washington D.C. to New York. 

Microsoft is closely monitoring the situation, and has already taken several actions including publishing its disaster response ReadyReach information portal. This site provides information on updates & projections from experts, preparedness recommendations from FEMA, and links to more information on what you can do to help. A number of nonprofits are actively responding to the storm, including:

• American Red Cross – Mobilized more than 400 workers, 200,000 ready-to-eat meals shipped, six shelters in Virginia and North Carolina.
• AmeriCares – Assessing needs with over 130 response partners, positioned stock of supplies and medicine ready for immediate shipment.
• Save the Children – Using U.S. Emergencies Fund to help prepared to distribute aid, psychosocial support, and more.
• World Vision – Ready to dispatch flood clean-up kits, working with local partners to bolster emergency supplies, and more.

Latest Information

For all the latest news and information on storm developments follow NBC News and the Storm Tracker map. Another great resource is the American Red Cross’s Hurricane App. It provides great information about hurricanes, what to do immediately afterwards, and location-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) alerts. It will provide the information you need at your fingertips.

By Brad Smith, Executive Vice President, Microsoft

Today, in front of 2,000 students and teachers at Federal Way High School in Washington state, I had the honor of joining Free The Children founder Craig Kielburger and Seattle Seahawks’ Head Coach Pete Carroll to announce We Day Seattle - an exciting new, year-long program at that will educate, engage and empower 15,000 youth in Washington to become involved global citizens.

We Day started in Canada five years ago and the Seattle event will be its first ever in the U.S.

Together, We Day and We Act, the full-year engagement program that provides the tools needed to take action on any number of issues, have mobilized nearly 1.7 million students annually to discover their connection to their communities and make positive changes in their world...

Since 2009 alone, We Day and We Act participants gave an impressive 3.4 million hours of service and raised $20 million dollars for local and global causes.

Microsoft’s support for We Day and We Act is part of our new company-wide initiative, Microsoft YouthSpark, which aims to create new opportunities for 300 million youth around the world over the next three years. Microsoft YouthSpark stems from our deeply-held belief that today’s youth can be the spark of change in our world. It’s a belief we share with Free The Children and one that forms the core of the We Day movement.

So mark your calendars: On March 27, We Day is coming to Key Arena in Seattle, and we hope many students will participate this unique and inspiring program. It’s exciting to imagine the energy and passion that thousands of Puget Sound youth will unleash across the region as a result of this movement, sparking change big and small, here at home and beyond.

For more information on how to get involved in We Day Seattle and to learn more, please visit www.weday.com/seattle.

As we near the end of the 2012 Microsoft employee giving campaign we thought we’d give you a glimpse at one of the most popular giving initiatives: MS Auction.

MS Auction is an internal only auction site that gives employees the opportunity to submit and bid on a range of different items ranging from collectibles (e.g. an actor’s shirt), experiences (e.g. craft distillery tasting), electronics, food & drink (e.g. six months of homemade cookies) and many many more.

The auction takes place as you’d expect with people bidding (and auto-bidding) all through the month and the prize going to the highest bidder.

MS Auction grows every year and this year looks like being yet another record breaking year.

There’s an amazing range of items from getting your face on the front page of Microsoft.com to a trip in a Formula One car and a Caribbean getaway.

However, there was only one choice for our favorite item this year.

We’re not sure if there’s a steak dinner included.

A big thanks and congratulations to everyone who contributed to another incredible year of employee giving this year!