[Hidden-tech] Internships Desired for High School Students

[Matthias Theo]

Greetings Earth Day Friends,

As some of you may know, I am the Academic Computing Coordinator at  
The Williston Northampton School in Easthampton, MA. We are a private  
boarding school and attract a number of extremely talented, technology- 
minded students from around the world. My exposure to these students  
as a Computer Science teacher and Robotics Team Coach has allowed me  
to recognize a few exceptional students who would greatly benefit from  
being technologically immersed in the business world. Thus, I am  
sending out this feeler to see if anyone in the Valley would be  
receptive to the idea of taking-on one (or more) of my students in  
Internship programs during this summer.

My students have been exposed to some basic-level programming using  
VB .Net, but have concentrated their efforts in writing programs in  
Java 5. Through our curriculum, they have also been exposed to  
computer architecture (how CPUs work, Machine cycles, memory,  
controllers, storage devices, busses, protocols, and networking, etc.)  
as well as program development models and prototyping. My juniors and  
seniors have/are taking AP Computer Science and have mastered Java  
topics like polymorphism, recursion, maps, sets, arrays, ArrayLists,  
recursive sorts, etc. Some of them have excelled on Williston's  
Robotics Team and are familiar with C, device controllers, servos, and  
other robotics gear.

I have told my students that I would be sending out this message and  
have prepared them for the reality of internships: not much money (if  
any), and tasks that my be distant from "mission-critical" ones. With  
that warning, they remain undeterred; they just want to observe and  
learn from the talent that exists in the valley. I should note that we  
do have some "specialists" that could be of real value to any  
business. Two students have held summer jobs in the computer repair  
and support fields and would jump at the chance to do it again.

Our school closes at the end of May so Internships would occur during  
the months of June, July and August. I would love to discuss this  
concept with any member who would entertain a full or partial  
Internship program. Please feel free to call or email me to discuss  
any aspect of this concept.

Many thanks!

Ted Matthias
Academic Computing Coordinator
Computer Science Teacher
Coach - FTC Robotics Team #3157
The Williston Northampton School
19 Payson Avenue
Easthampton, MA 01027
Office: 413-529-3334