National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. members and Sigma Pi Phi have joined forces to offer summer camp scholarships to minority students to attend TechTown, and the Benwood Foundation has matched these donations, so that a total of 50 summer camp scholarships are available for Chattanooga-area youth.
“The digital divide will continue to expand if we do not harness the attention of young people as early as possible,” said Sigma Pi Phi Foundation leader and businessman, S. Reginald Ruff. “Chattanooga has created an innovation ecosystem that rivals any mid-size city in the country, and we want to ensure inclusiveness and opportunity for all Chattanoogans.”
These scholarships will afford 50 students the opportunity to attend TechTown’s summer programs, focusing on their specialty area of choice, such as robotics and integrated circuitry, software development, film and videography or 3D/2D design.
“We are proud to support the partnership between the Pan-Hellenic Council, Sigma Pi Phi and TechTown, so that more students in our community have the opportunity to learn about and be inspired by technology,” said Benwood Foundation President Sarah Morgan. “We hope that the TechTown campers of today will become the developers, technologists and entrepreneurs that will lead our city forward tomorrow.”
“We are humbled and excited to partner with these organizations that share our belief in the unlimited potential of young people,” said TechTown’s CEO Cordell Carter. “Our goal is to ensure every interested student in our area has access to hands-on learning with the latest technology available, partnering with like-minded and generous organizations across the city will enable us to reach our goal of developing talent for the region’s employers.”
The sponsoring fraternities and sororities will work with community groups in Chattanooga to identify and award scholarships to minority students. Anyone interested in attending a summer camp can visit gotechtown.org/summer2015. Camps begin June 29. For scholarship information, please call Naiara Cancel at 308-7730.