Campus News

AT&T Donates $12,000

11/18/14

During a check presentation today on the Granite Falls campus, the Minnesota West Foundation received a $12,000 AT&T donation to support a new course being offered next year at Minnesota West Community & Technical College.

The AT&T donation will support tuition and fees for 25 students who will enroll in the new “Concepts of Coding” course in May 2015. The goal of the course is to expose high school students to computer science careers, a field projected to have significant job growth.

“Research shows that by 2016, there will be 1.2 million vacant computer programming jobs in the United States because there aren’t enough trained and qualified individuals for these positions,” said Kathy Janssen, the Instructor for the “Concepts of Coding” course. “The goal of this new course is to get students interested in computer programming at an early age and encourage them to pursue a career in computer science. We are thankful to AT&T for their generous gift that will enable more students to explore careers in this emerging field.”

“Concepts of Coding” will expose high school students to computer science foundation logic within a friendly, game-like coding environment, using JavaScript to generate immediate interactive results. The course will be offered starting in January 2015 for high school students in grades 9 through 12, with the AT&T donation supporting the six-week May 2015 course.

“We are very proud to support Minnesota West’s efforts to engage our young people in the promising field of computer science,” said Paul Weirtz, president of AT&T Minnesota. “As a company, AT&T is committed to investing in education and helping our young people succeed in academics and careers.”

High school students who take the course can earn college credits that are transferrable to any Minnesota West Community & Technical College location.

“This is an exciting new course that will not only introduce high school students to computer programming, but also encourage them to pursue a career in a profession that we know will have projected job growth in the future,” said State Senator Gary Dahms. “Partnerships like this make a positive difference for education and for our young people.” 

The goal of the course is to target the younger generation that use digital sources of communication, mainly relying on social media and smartphones. 

“I applaud Minnesota West for offering this new course to help prepare today’s youth for the jobs of the future,” said State Representative Chris Swedzinski. “It is great to see business leaders and education leaders working together to invest in and help prepare Minnesota’s future workforce.”

As a company, AT&T has a long-standing commitment to helping advance education through donations to local education organizations and through the AT&T Aspire program. One of the nation’s largest corporate initiatives, AT&T Aspire is committed to helping more students graduate from high school ready for college and careers.

The Minnesota West Foundation believes in affordable and accessible educational opportunities for students. Because of this belief and commitment to education, the Foundation provides funding for scholarships and development opportunities for students attending Minnesota West Community & Technical College.  

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and internationally. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s most reliable 4G LTE network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile Internet, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries.  It also offers advanced TV service with the AT&T U-verse® brand. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com/aboutus or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/att.

About Philanthropy at AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is committed to advancing education, strengthening communities and improving lives. Through its philanthropic initiatives, AT&T has a long history of supporting projects that create learning opportunities; promote academic and economic achievement; and address community needs. In 2010, more than $148.2 million was contributed through corporate-, employee- and AT&T Foundation-giving programs.

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Reliability claim based on data transfer completion rates on nationwide 4G LTE networks. 4G LTE availability varies.