AGILE ALLIANCE SPONSORS 5 SATURDAYS EDUCATION PROGRAM

AGILE ALLIANCE SPONSORS 5 SATURDAYS EDUCATION PROGRAM
Will Support Volunteer Training & Program’s Goal to Teach Students Agile Skills

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE…March 9, 2015…COSTA MESA, CALIF….5 Saturdays, an innovative Orange County-based education program, today announced that Agile Alliance, an international non-profit committed to advancing Agile principles and practices in software development, will sponsor 5 Saturdays’ education initiatives aimed at helping students open a door to a career in information technology.

Agile Alliance sponsorship will be used by 5 Saturdays for the training of volunteer professionals at workshops in 2015. Attendees at the two-day workshops will receive 16 hours of Agile and Scrum face-to-face training, as well as 12 hours of self-paced training and 12 hours of facilitating 5 Saturdays workshops. Combined, this training will allow participants to earn certification as an Agility Facilitator and enable them to lead future 5 Saturdays student workshops worldwide.

5 Saturdays founder Dave Cornelius, DM, said that sponsorship from Agile Alliance is valuable recognition of the group’s efforts to teach high school students Agile and other important life skills. “We are honored to receive support from Agile Alliance,” Cornelius said. “Our goal is to introduce students to a career in information technology and business and empower them through agility and innovation. Our ‘train the facilitator’ approach and volunteer professionals are key to making that happen. We are excited to train facilitators so they can support students and provide a positive and productive learning experience in creative and critical thinking, effective communications, and agility using Scrum and Kanban during the 5 Saturdays student workshops across the globe.”

According to Phil Brock, managing director of the Agile Alliance, the organization is pleased to sponsor the 5 Saturdays facilitator training. “The goal of the Agile Alliance is to support programs and activities focused on teaching and applying Agile principles and practices,” Brock said. “We are impressed with 5 Saturdays and its vision of reaching students and introducing them to Agile and other important life skills. Facilitators are an integral part of the learning experience, and we support the ‘train the trainer’ approach that will allow others to host 5 Saturdays student workshops in their local communities, helping to expand the global focus of the program.”

About Agile Alliance
Agile Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the concepts of Agile software development, as outlined in the Agile Manifesto. With nearly 17,000 members and subscribers around the globe, Agile Alliance is driven by the principles of Agile methodologies and the value delivered to developers, organizations, and end users. Agile Alliance organizes the annual Agile Conference, the industry’s leading event that attracts worldwide practitioners, academia, business, and vendor-partner community members. The Agile2015 Conference is scheduled August 3–8, 2015, in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.agilealliance.org.

About 5 Saturdays
5 Saturdays, based in Costa Mesa, Calif., supports non-profits and other organizations with collaborative and project-based education outreach initiatives in local communities. Using a curriculum created by founder Dr. Dave Cornelius, volunteer professionals mentor students and expose them to a career in technology and business, as well as teach them life skills, such as creative and critical thinking, effective communications, and agility using Scrum and Kanban. Visit 5Saturdays.org for more information.