More tech leaders need to donate their time to Career Day

For the past 10 years or so I go to my nearest middle school and volunteer for Career Day. Even though my children have long left middle school (and even high school), I like to present interesting technology that I've got skills in to a bunch of 12-14 year olds. Typically these Career Days are filled (packed even) with early responders and uniformed people.

This year's topic ... 3D Printing

I packed up one of my 3D printers and brought it to the classroom along with a slide deck. I had 20 minutes with each class before the next one shifted in. 6 sets of classes made for a busy morning. As an added incentive, I printed out about a dozen Baby Yoda 3D models in PLA plastic. They were coveted by each group and it helped them pay attention to some of the 3D printing concepts I wanted them to learn. At the end of each period, 2 Baby Yodas were given away.

I highly recommend that if you are a software developer, that you should take some time to show young people that technology is a great place to make a career.

They give me much more than I give them

Typically a few weeks later I get a small package just stuffed with Thank You notes from the students. They are thoughtful, many very well written, and give me such a good feeling that I made a connection with them. Hopefully a few of them decide to pursue technology or science jobs in their future.