ADRIENNE: IT WAS A BIG WEEK FOR MILWAUKEE’S TECH INDUSTRY. DOZENS OF EVENTS HELPED LAUNCH THIS YEAR’S STARTUP MILWAUKEE WEEK. A BIG PUSH FOCUSED ON THE NEXT GENERATION, AND HOW WISCONSIN MAY BE FALLING BEHIND. OUR MATT SMITH BRINGS US INSIDE THE PUSH TO GET KIDS IN FRONT OF COMPUTERS. MATT: INSIDE MR. FERWERDA’S COMPUTER SCIENCE CLASS AT MUKWONAGO HIGH SCHOOL, -- >> YOU READY TO GIVE THIS A SHOT? MATT: A LABORATORY IN ITS FIFTH YEAR. >> WHICH FIELD DO YOU THINK WOULD BE A REALLY GOOD ONE TO GET RID OF? BOGUS BECAUSE THAT’S THE ONE WITH MEANINGLESS DATA, DOESN’T IT? MATT: AN I.T. ECONOMY, THE BRAINCHILD OF SEVERAL TEACHERS. >> I THINK WE LOOKED AT EACH OTHER AND SAID, THIS IS INSANE. LET’S DO THIS. MATT: TODAY, ABOUT 60 STUDENTS HAVE ENROLLED, PARTNERING WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES AND TAKING CLASSES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. >> IT IS REALLY NICE TO HAVE THAT GOOD FOUNDATION LIKE WORK FOUNDATION FROM AN INTERNSHIP, SKILLS FOUNDATION FROM CLASSES . IT MAKES YOU REALLY WELL-ROUNDED. MATT: BUT NOT EVERY STUDENT IN WISCONSIN HAS THIS OPTION IN AN INDUSTRY THAT’S GROWING AT WARP SPEED. >> I THINK IF YOU ARE NOT ACTIVELY LEADING IN THIS, YOU ARE FALLING BEHIND. IT’S NOT A MATTER OF TREADING WATER. I DON’T THINK YOU CAN TREAD WATER. MATT: THE NATIONAL NONPROFIT CODE.ORG SAYS JUST 42% OF WISCONSIN’S PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS TEACH COMPUTER SCIENCE, WHICH IS BELOW THE NATIONAL AVERAGE. THE STATE HAS CREATED CREATED STATEWIDE STANDARDS, BUT ADVOCATES SAY HAS SO FAR FAILED TO FULLY BACK AND IMPLEMENT A ROBUST PLAN. SEAN ROBERTS IS CODE.ORG’S DIRECTOR OF STATE GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, WHICH IS PUSHING TO EXPAND COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION ACROSS THE COUNTRY. >> IT’S GOING TO COME DOWN TO LEADERSHIP AND MAKING THE DECISION WE WANT TO BE THAT NATIONAL LEADER AND NOT FALL BEHIND OTHER STATES. MATT: THE PUSH WAS PART OF STARTUP MILWAUKEE WEEK. THE TECH COMMUNITY UNDERSCORED WHAT’S AT STAKE. >> THAT LEADS TO A LOT OF THE BIG ISSUES I THINK THE TECH INDUSTRY NATIONALLY AND GLOBALLY FACES, WHICH IS DIVERSITY. WE DON’T SEE WOMEN AND MINORITIES PARTICIPATING IN TECHNOLOGY AND A WAY WE REVERSE THAT IS ENSURING IT’S IN EVERY K-12 SCHOOL IN WISCONSIN, REGARDLESS OF WHAT ZIP CODE A STUDENT LIVES IN. >> I THINK IT’S ALWAYS A WORK IN PROGRESS. MATT: ADELIA RUMPEL IS AN AMBASSADOR FOR MUKWONAGO’S I.T. ACADEMY. PUSHING NOT ONLY FELLOW STUDENTS BUT THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY TO QUICKLY GET ON BOARD. >> THE POINT OF BECOMING A PROGRAMMER OR I.T. PROFESSIONAL, WHATEVER, ISN’T JUST TO MAKE A 10 OF MONEY. THEY WILL. BUT IT IS TO CREATE TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE THINGS THAT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD AND MAKE LIVES BETTER. AND THAT’S A BIG HOOK FOR A LOT OF KIDS. ADRIENNE: MATT, HAS MUKWONAGO FACED ANY CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING THIS PROGRAM? MATT: THEY SPENT SEVERAL YEARS PLANNING THIS AND WORKING WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES, AND THEY SAY THAT IS CRUCIAL TO MAKE IT WORK. THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE THEY SAY IS GETTING BUSINESSES TO PARTNER AND INVEST IN STUDENTS. THEY ARE LEERY AT HAVING HIGH SCHOOL KIDS AS INTERNS, BUT THEY THE RESULTS, SO SELLING THE PROGRAM IS THE PHASE THEY ARE IN. ADRIENNE: WHAT ABOUT THE LARGER ISSUES FOR SCHOOLS? MATT: SOME SCHOOLS HAVE ISSUES WITH FUNDING AND MONEY. ANOTHER BIG ASPECT IS THE CONCEPT THAT THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH TRAINED TEACHERS, NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW TO TEACH COMPUTER SCIENCE. CODE.ORG IS WORKING TO TRAIN TEACHERS, SO THAT IS ANOTHER PIECE OF THE PUZZLE. ADRIENNE: AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF THE FUTURE. THANK YOU. NEXT, MILWAUKEE FOLLOWING THE LEAD OF OTHER BIG CITIES ON SINGLE USE PLASTIC STRAWS.