A special thank you to NuStar Energy, L.P. who acted as hosts to our most recent “Educating the Educators” seminar. The room was packed with approximately 80 attendees from both the Southside Independent School district and Harmony Science Academy.
High School educators, guidance counselors and school administrators /super intendents attended a daylong session focused on demystifying Information Technology and gaining an understanding of what is needed to prepare recent graduates for a career in IT.
Throughout the last 10+ years in business and the last four years putting on this seminar, we have seen the need for IT talent within San Antonio and nearby cities (Austin, Houston, etc.) continue to grow. However, talent is generally being brought in from outside of the city/state and even the country to address the need. Sistema believes that a strong IT infrastructure can be created to address the needs of our city if we educate, mentor and create intern opportunities for our children.
IT leaders from Rackspace, Tesoso, NuStar Energy and Accenture along with Sistema presented to educators what the different types of IT positions are, the latest technologies being used by local companies, pay rates for these positions, where secondary education can be attained and the importance of teaching IT principles and technologies within the high school curriculum.
Interestingly, a number of these IT leaders spoke about non-IT topics as well regarding the need to be able to collaborate, how to work within a team environment, understanding history and different cultures in order to work well within a diverse team, and the importance of communication skills.