Photo by Jon Anderson.
Vinny Chiaramonte is the lead teacher for the Cyber Innovation Academy at the Riverchase Career Connection Center.
Sophia Nateghi took a computer science class when she was in the eighth grade at Bumpus Middle School and loved it.
So when she found out Hoover was starting a Cyber Innovation Academy at the new Riverchase Career Connection Center, she was all over it.
Nateghi, who just completed her 10th grade year at Hoover High, is one of at least 125 students signed up for the Cyber Innovation Academy, which is scheduled to begin when school starts back Aug. 8.
Nateghi said she was particularly excited that her middle school computer science teacher, Vinny Chiaramonte, is the lead teacher for the academy because she loved learning from him.
She said it’s awesome you can create a video game by doing something as simple as coding, and she would love to be a software engineer one day. She was drawn into it through video games but knows there are a lot of other uses for coding skills.
Nateghi already has created a visual novel and added animation, characters and sounds, she said. She also made an exact replica of The Impossible Quiz computer game and a software program that uses pictures of animals to help teach children how to read, she said.
Chiaramonte said he’s excited about the opportunity to launch the new academy and give students tools they can put to use immediately.
The Cyber Innovation Academy will be designed both for students interested in pursuing a college degree, such as computer science or cybersecurity, and those who would rather go straight into the workforce, he said.
“Not every kid needs to go to college,” Chiaramonte said. “To think so is kind of crazy.”
There will be four pathways initially: an introduction to computer science, networking, cybersecurity and Java programming. In another year, the academy may offer a fifth pathway dealing with databases and mainframes, but Chiaramonte said he doesn’t want to try too much the first year.
“We want to make sure everything we do, we can do with excellence,” he said.
The academy will be preparing students for jobs in computer programming, software development, software analysis, network security and network administration, he said.
Some of the tracks will help students achieve industry certifications such as A+ and Network+, and at least one course will be an Advanced Placement course with the potential to earn college credit, Chiaramonte said. He also is exploring dual enrollment opportunities.
Computer-related skills are in high demand in the workplace, he said.
Every manufacturing line has some kind of computer program running it, and when it goes down, people are needed to get it going again or to reprogram it, he said.
Also, banks and insurance companies right now are looking for people who can work with old mainframe languages, he said. No one is teaching them anymore, and the people who know them are retiring, he said. It’s too expensive to change the mainframes, so people who know those languages are in high demand.
People going into information technology jobs with A+ credentials can start out earning $35,000 to $58,000, and network administrators can start out at more than $60,000, Chiaramonte said. Computer programming jobs pay $35,000 to $110,000, depending on what you’re doing, he said.
“The money’s good. It’s better than a teacher makes, and I think that’s awesome,” Chiaramonte said. “We want the best for our kids.”
The Cyber Innovation Academy already has some industry partners, such as the TechBirmingham nonprofit, McLeod Software and Microsoft’s TEALS program, Chiaramonte said.
He’s working to develop more partnerships, while at the same time earning all the credentials he’ll be helping students earn. Hoover has hired Pam McClendon from the Jefferson County school system as a second teacher for the academy. Chiaramonte described her as a “rock star” among computer science teachers and said she piloted the Advanced Placement course for computer science in Alabama.
Chiaramonte said he hated to leave Bumpus Middle School, but the idea behind the Cyber Innovation Academy and the impact it can have on students made the job too good to pass up. He could even see the program expanding to accommodate adults one day.
“I think this is going to be huge for Hoover,” he said. “I’m dreaming big.”
