Bringing IT professionals from Amazon into the classroom
29.04.2022 | CustomerAffairs
©ERIK BOHR - FOTOGRAF
What do a high school in Gevelsberg, a secondary school in Gauting, an integrated comprehensive school in Buxtehude and a German school in Lisbon have in common? At all four schools, Class Chats with Amazon employees took place on this year's Girls' Day.
Experts from the IT sector and other future-oriented occupational fields went to the schools – virtually or in person – reported on their personal careers and answered the children's and adolescents’ questions on the topics of career choice, work experience and everyday working life. Almost 140 students from grades five to nine took part in the classroom discussions, which lasted about an hour. The students used the personal exchange with the role models for their own career orientation.
Inspire tomorrow's generation for IT training
When young people come into contact with IT professions, they are more likely to choose a promising education in mathematics, engineering, science and technology. The Class Chats program encourages students to follow this path. On Girls’ Day, a software developer, a machine learning engineer, a software consultant, and the Amazon Germany CEO personally advocate for inspired and encouraged students nationwide to pursue an IT career. HeadlineAffairs took over project management and provided support for multichannel communications and press relations around the classroom chats.
Education as a matter of the heart
Class Chats are part of the educational initiative Amazon Future Engineer (AFE) and take place in cooperation with the non-profit organization App Camps. HeadlineAffairs has been involved with the program since its launch, coordinating the operational implementation of the classroom chats with Amazon employees and contributing to the conceptual development of the format. The goal of AFE – “To make it easier for children and young people to access computer science education, with the aim of providing them with better personal opportunities for the future as a result. No matter where they come from or who they are” – also drives our work for this heartfelt project every day.
For those interested, Class Chats take place throughout the year, are free, interactive, and open to all. Those who know teachers can share this App Camps link to sign up: https://appcamps.de/classchats/