A couple of weeks ago, DevOps Collective (PowerShell.org’s parent non-profit organization) announced the availability of the ‘GetGoing’ IT Ops Education Program and Scholarship.
For those of you who may not have yet heard, DevOps Collective and Pluralsight have partnered together to create a modern ’turnkey’ curriculum that brings together mapped courses, recommended hands-on experiences, and live mentoring to prepare people for the real-world of IT Operations.  With this initiative, they’ve offered up to full-ride scholarships for 2016.  Applications for the scholarship have opened, and applications will be taken in until May 15th.
Now that the way has been paved, it’s our turn as members of the community to get the word out; and doing so might be easier than you think!
Contact Your Local School Districts
I recently reached out to my hometown public school district, and was immediately met with enthusiasm from the local superintendent and their Science, Guidance, and Counseling departments.  It only takes a quick email with some bullet points on the program to get the conversation initiated.  I’ve included the text of my initial correspondence for you to use as a guide to help you on your way.
Contacting your school district is easy .  A quick search online for your district can get your to their website with contact info, often including the email addresses for the district superintendent and other office officials that can help!  Send them a copy of the brochure to help them get informed of the initiative.
Use Your Social Media Skills
Get the conversation going on social media!  Talk to your followers; speak out to local educational organizations; and make them aware of this awesome new program!
Inform Your User Groups
Get your user groups in on the action.  Enlist the greater community to get the word out faster!  Together we can canvas an even larger area and get more people interested!
Get Involved
Offer to become a mentor.  We all know that the best way to learn is from real world experiences.  We, as a community, have this vast repository of practical knowledge that no book can effectively provide.  We, as a collective resource, can help to bring a new generation of administrators, engineers, and architects into this world already prepared to take on DevOps, Agile IT, and more!
If you need a hand getting started, feel free to contact me at webmaster at powershell.org.  Now let’s #GetGoing ourselves, and make this happen!
Here’s my initial contact email that you can use to fit your own story:
Greetings [Contact Name],

I hope this email finds you well.

*My name is [Your Name Here].  I'm a native to [City], IT Consultant, and an industry/community leader in Cloud and Datacenter Management.  I teach PowerShell for free to people in the community that have an interest in the technology at user groups in [location[s]].*










*I also do volunteer work for the DevOps Collective; a 501(c)(3) organization that is dedicated to creating conversations, improving connections between practitioners, and further develop the DevOps state of the art.*










*Recently, DevOps Collective announced the new “GetGoing” IT Ops Education Program & Scholarship.  More on the program can be [researched here](https://devopscollective.org/2016/04/04/announcing-the-getgoing-it-ops-education-program-scholarship/), but I thought I'd offer some of the bullet points on the major educational objectives that form the basis of the program:*












  - 
    *Core understanding of business IT environments, including the various components that commonly form the business technology infrastructure.*


  - 
    *Basic networking essentials, including client configuration and troubleshooting.*


  - 
    *Essentials of business technology security.*


  - 
    *Essentials for technology troubleshooting, including methodologies and patterns.*


  - 
    *Essentials of virtualization technologies.*


  - 
    *Help desk essential skills, including Microsoft Office basics, customer interaction, ticketing systems, and process-following.*


  - 
    *Desktop support essentials.*


  - 
    *Server support essentials.*


  - 
    *Windows client operating system fundamentals, including client and server administration fundamentals.*


  - 
    *Windows PowerShell fundamentals, including the use of PowerShell for core help desk tasks.*


  - 
    *Fundamentals of Microsoft-based databases, collaboration, and messaging technologies.*














*Finally, DevOps Collective has partnered with Pluralsight to offer two full-ride scholarships.  One is a general availability scholarship, and the second is a diversity scholarship being offered to groups that underrepresented in IT in the United States.  The scholarship has a total value of approximately $11,000 dollars and includes:*














    - 
      *Full access to a Pluralsight turnkey curriculum, giving you all the education the model curriculum specifies.*


    - 
      *A paid mentor, who will check-in weekly with each student.*


    - 
      *Paid-for hands-on experiences, including Azure time, predesigned hands-on labs, and even a build-it-yourself kit PC that students get to keep.*


    - 
      *Practice tests, knowledge checks, and other supplemental materials.*


    - 
      *Paid-for certification exams – students only pay if they need to re-take a test.*
















*As a leader in the IT community with strong ties the 

[city] , I feel that this is an important conversation that we need to have for the children of the city.  I grew up [your story].  I have enjoyed much success in my career in Information Technology, and I would love to see today’s [school district] students empowered to become tomorrow’s technology successes.*

*Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.*










*Best Regards,*