Figuring out what comes after high school is a huge task for any teen, and those who are interested in a tech career have an overwhelming array of options to choose from. As part of KidsTek’s high school classes, our staff often supports students in figuring out their next steps, so we were excited to host guest speakers Eric Weissman and Cristal Torres Lopez from the Turing School of Software and Design in our class at Hinkley High School last month.
Turing is a fully-remote computer programming school headquartered in Denver. Traditionally, their students are primarily career-switchers who already have some professional experience, but Turing recently debuted their new Launch program designed for 18-26 year old students at the very beginnings of their professional careers. Like Turing’s traditional front and back end programs, students gain the skills they need for a career in software development, but the Launch program also emphasizes learning professional soft skills and focuses more on paid internships and apprenticeships as a program-end goal for students.
“Turing’s Launch program is amazing and a great opportunity for my students!” said Instructor Katy Limes. “I hope some of them take advantage of it to further their computer science careers.”
During their visit, Eric and Cristal gave KidsTek students an overview not only of the Launch program, but also some insight on software development careers generally. “So many of our students are interested in tech careers but don’t quite have a developed idea of how to get there or what it might look like for them as individuals,” said Program Manager Emily Tow. “It’s great to be able to help them explore all of the many options available to them, and I appreciate Eric and Cristal for helping us to do so!”
