Code & Community: Milwaukee Hour of Code Events Set New Record for Students

71 Milwaukee Hour of Code Events Teach Nearly 5,000 Hours of Code to K-12 Students

Milwaukee, Wisc., December 17, 2018 - Northwestern Mutual and NEWaukee challenged local businesses and organizations to teach 1,000 hours of code to students during Computer Science Awareness Week (December 3-9). Twenty companies responded to the call, hosting 71 events and teaching more than 4,700 hours of code to K-12 students throughout the Milwaukee region. This was the first time the local business, non-profit and education communities partnered to provide STEM learning opportunities at this scale.

“We were excited to see this city-wide effort involve people of all ages in Hour of Code,” said Alice Steinglass, President of Code.org. “We hope this momentum will continue into 2019 and beyond and that Milwaukee can be a champion for computer science in Wisconsin.”

Betty Brinn Children's Museum's Be a Maker space offered hands-on coding activities focused on data collection and visualization, computer science terminology, quick puzzles and games.

Students from Stellar Collegiate Charter School of Milwaukee worked together to solve challenges in Minecraft during an Hour of Code event led by Northwestern Mutual Senior Engineer Holly Murphy.

Northwestern Mutual employees and brothers Daniel Andrade and Omar Andrade led an Hour of Code with over 150 K4-5th graders at Forest Home Avenue School, where Daniel's three children (pictured) attend school.

UW-Milwaukee College of Engineering and Applied Science hosted their final Girls Who Code club for the semester at the Engineering & Mathematical Sciences Building on campus.

Students from Notre Dame School of Milwaukee worked in teams to code and program Finch Robots to go through self-created mazes.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett visited Milwaukee Public Library Mitchell Street Branch, where they had computers available and experienced coders on hand to teach activities to students of all ages.

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More than 190 volunteers led Milwaukee Hour of Code events, which coincided with Code.org's global Hour of Code campaign. The initiative is part of Northwestern Mutual's commitment to advance Milwaukee as a national hub for technology, business and talent development.

“When companies and communities work side by side to support a larger purpose, good things happen,” said Karl Gouverneur, vice president of digital workplace, corporate solutions and head of digital innovation at Northwestern Mutual. “To build a vibrant tech hub in Milwaukee, we're providing students with STEM learning opportunities so that they can be inspired and develop an interest in technology from an early age.”

Computer science drives growth and innovation throughout the economy and society, but according to Code.org, only 40 percent of high schools nationwide teach computer science.

Wisconsin currently has nearly 8,000 open computing jobs, and more than 30,000 technology job openings in the Milwaukee seven county region are expected in the next five years due to retirement and changing careers alone. This number does not include new jobs projected to be created as digital transformation drives talent shifts in most industry sectors. To build the talent needed to be successful in the digital future, the Milwaukee region must establish a strong ecosystem that includes building classroom capacity for STEM education.

Participating companies and organizations included:

88Nine Radio Milwaukee
Advocate Aurora Health
Betty Brinn Children’s Museum
Code.org
Discovery World
GE Healthcare
i.c. Stars Milwaukee
Islands of Brilliance
Marquette University
Milwaukee Electric Tool
Milwaukee Public Library
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Northwestern Mutual
Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute
Rockwell Automation
Scanalytics
SHARP Literacy
SynerComm
SysLogic
UW-Milwaukee

To learn more about Northwestern Mutual’s commitment to STEM, visit innovation.nm.com.

About Code.org
Code.org is a 501c3 public non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Its vision is that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer programming. After launching in 2013, Code.org organized the Hour of Code campaign – which has introduced over 100 million students to computer science to date – and partnered with 70 public school districts nationwide to expand computer science programs. Code.org is supported by philanthropic donations from corporations, foundations and generous individuals, including Microsoft, Facebook, Infosys Foundation USA, Amazon, and others. For more information, please visit: code.org.

About NEWaukee
NEWaukee is a social architecture firm that specializes in community-based signature experiences centered on high-profile issues of importance for the city of Milwaukee. NEWaukee also provides consumer, employer brand and talent engagement services to employers looking to attract and retain talent necessary to grow their businesses. Visit www.newaukee.com to learn more.

About Northwestern Mutual
Northwestern Mutual has been helping families and businesses achieve financial security for more than 160 years. Through a distinctive, whole-picture planning approach, we empower our clients to make the most of every single day and plan for important moments in their future. We combine the expertise of our financial professionals with a personalized digital experience to help our clients navigate their financial lives every day. With $265.0 billion in assets, $28.1 billion in revenues, and $1.8 trillion worth of life insurance protection in force, Northwestern Mutual delivers financial security to 4.5 million people who rely on us for life, disability income and long-term care insurance, annuities, brokerage and advisory services, trust services, and discretionary portfolio management solutions. The company manages more than $125 billion of client assets through its wealth management and investment services. Northwestern Mutual ranks 104 on the 2018 FORTUNE 500 and is recognized by FORTUNE^® as one of the “World's Most Admired” life insurance companies in 2018.

Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (NM), Milwaukee, WI (life and disability insurance, annuities, and life insurance with long-term care benefits) and its subsidiaries. Northwestern Mutual and its subsidiaries offer a comprehensive approach to financial security solutions including: life insurance, long-term care insurance, disability income insurance, annuities, life insurance with long-term care benefits, investment products, and advisory products and services. Subsidiaries include Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (NMIS) (securities), broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, member FINRA and SIPC; the Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company^® (NMWMC) (fiduciary and fee-based financial planning services), federal savings bank; and Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company (NLTC) (long-term care insurance).

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