about.php

<?php get_header ();
/*
Template Name: About Page
*/
?>

<?php get_header(); ?>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="<?php echo get_template_directory_uri(); ?>/CSS/aboutStyle.css">

<style type='text/css'>
  .backgroundImgLt {
    background-image: url('<?php echo get_template_directory_uri(); ?>/images/first_aid_kit.png');
  }

  @-moz-document url-prefix() {
    .titleSize {
      margin-top:0px;
      padding-top: 5px;
    }

</style>

  <div class="border clearfix">
    <div class="aboutSlide clearfix">
      <div class='value valposition'>
        <h3 class="emphasisTitle aboutSmall">ABOUT US</h3>
        <div><img id="img" class="imgBorder" src="<?php bloginfo('template_url'); ?>/images/about_collage2.png" alt="our people" />
        </div>
      </div>
      <div class ='value-right'>
        <p>Nashville Software School (NSS) is a place where a person with aptitude, motivation, passion and commitment can learn the craft of software development.  A place where you can get a running start down the path to a life-long career in technology and software development.  In fact it’s more than a running start, it's a blast down the runway with afterburners. </p>
        <p>Our intensive training and apprenticeship program dramatically accelerates learning about and access to the world of software development.  Give us six months and we'll prepare you for an entry-level software developer job. </p>
        <p>And Nashville has a great need for more software developers.  Our economy is increasingly built on and around software - it's the engine that powers the future of health care, of publishing, of the music and entertainment, of logistics and other industries.  Software is also the engine of new industries that are even now emerging.  Yet at any given point in time there are dozens of unfilled software developer jobs in Nashville.  We need to develop and deepen the local talent pool.  Our belief is that we can't expect to make more than a dent in local demand for software talent by importing talent because every other major city in the country has exactly the same talent shortage as we do.  It is time for a little homegrown talent development on the tech side of Nashville.  That's where NSS comes in.</p>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
    <div id="bottom">
      <div id="bottom_wrapper" class="contentWrap">
        <div id="bottom_left">
          <h2 class="smallHeadline smallDiff">A COMMUNITY-FUNDED</h2>
          <h2 class="emphasisTitle aboutSmall">NON-PROFIT</h2>
        </div><!--/bottom_left-->
      <div id="bottom_right">
        <p>Nashville Software School is a Tennessee non-profit corporation.  Our mission is to expand the technology workforce in middle Tennessee by providing motivated individuals with access to a career in software development through training, mentorship and apprenticeship.  We're a collection of Nashville's passionate and committed tech professionals who love what we do and want to give back to our community and our profession by helping others get a start in the technology industry.</p>
        <br/><p>You can support our students by donating to our general operating fund, by sponsoring a student through underwriting the expenses of their training, or through donating to our scholarship fund to support the economically disadvantaged or physically disabled.  Please contact us through the Contact page on this website for more information on how to support the Nashville Software School.</p>
      </div><!--/bottom_right-->
      <div style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 1px;"></div>
      </div><!--/bottom_wrapper-->
    </div><!--/bottom-->

  <div class="valuesHeader clearfix">
    <div class='value coreValues'>
      <h2 class="smallHeadline smallDiff">THESE ARE OUR</h2>
      <h2 class="emphasisTitle aboutSmall">CORE VALUES</h2>
    </div>
  </div>
    <div class="aboutSlide clearfix">
      <div class='value'>
        <div class="valuePic">
          <img class="imgBorder" src="<?php echo get_template_directory_uri(); ?>/images/craft.png"/>
        </div>
      </div>
        <div class ='value-right'>
        <div class="aboutBorder">
          <h2 class="smallHeadline">Craftsmanship</h2>
        </div>
          <p>We believe software development - the design and creation of websites, mobile apps, business systems, computer games, etc. - is a craft.   Crafts are learned by working alongside and under the direction of a master craftsman.  Therefore we learn to be a software developer best by being taught and mentored by other software professionals - people who build things from and with software.  We learn best by doing.</p>
          <p>Our training curriculum, our mentorship approach, and our apprenticeship program are all designed to provide the opportunity to lay down a solid foundation of knowledge and skill in the craft of software development.  We're focused on not just teaching computer languages and technology platforms but the principles behind how to solve problems, design effective and efficient solutions, and deliver high quality results.</p>
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="aboutSlide clearfix">
      <div class='value'>
        <div class="valuePic">
          <img class="imgBorder" src="<?php echo get_template_directory_uri(); ?>/images/future.png"/>
        </div>
      </div>
        <div class ='value-right'>
        <div class="aboutBorder">
          <h2 class="smallHeadline">Career Development</h2>
        </div>
        <p>We help students who have passion, aptitude, energy and commitment prepare themselves for a career as a professional software developer.  We provide the necessary knowledge, experience and connections to qualify our students for a junior-level position as a software developer.  We support our students as they invest in themselves and the chance for a career developing software.</p>
        <p>We believe that our approach also enhances the careers of our mentors.  All of us have had the experience of being mentored and we enjoy the opportunity to do the same.  Teaching others is a way to learn more deeply and more intensely a craft we already practice. Exposure to new developers is a great kick in the pants in terms of energy, enthusiasm and passion.  It's also a chance to give back to the community - to the software development and technical community as well as to the broader Nashville community.</p>
      </div>
    </div>

    <div class="aboutSlide clearfix">
      <div class='value'>
        <div class="valuePic">
          <img class="imgBorder" src="<?php echo get_template_directory_uri(); ?>/images/community.png"/>
        </div>
      </div>
      <div class ='value-right'>
        <div class="aboutBorder">
          <h2 class="smallHeadline">Community</h2>
        </div>
        <p>We are committed to building a stronger, more vibrant and faster-growing community of software designers and developers right here in Nashville.  We know how stimulating and rewarding a career in software development can be.  We know that there is a great deal of untapped talent in Nashville with the potential to learn the craft of software development.</p>
        <p>We leverage the existing community to help build the community.  Our mentors are among the smartest, most creative and most experienced software craftspeople in Nashville.  Our partner companies are some of the largest employers in Nashville as well as some of the fastest growing and highest potential tech ventures in the area.  Our partners provide meaningful and challenging project work for our apprentices.  They also plan to employ or contract with students when they leave our program.</p>
        <p>Connecting our students to fellow apprentices, to mentors, to potential employers and to other innovative, creative folks in the Nashville technology world is another part of our community vision.  An important element in a successful career is a strong and extensive professional network.  We provide our students with an opportunity to establish connections to peers, to master software developers, to prospective clients and employers, and to other important influencers in the Nashville and national tech, startup and general business communities.</p>
      </div>
    </div>

    <div class="aboutSlide clearfix">
      <div class='value'>
        <div class="valuePic">
          <img class="imgBorder" src="<?php echo get_template_directory_uri(); ?>/images/collaborate.png"/>
        </div>
      </div>
        <div class ='value-right'>
          <div class="aboutBorder">
            <h2 class="smallHeadline">Collaboration</h2>
          </div>
          <p>Software development projects are team efforts.  Multiple people.  Multiple skill sets.  Lots of different perspectives.  That's reality.  Our mission is to ensure that our students understand that reality and are prepared to contribute productively in a team project environment.</p>
          <p>Collaboration is a value that's bred deep in the Nashville creative community - we believe that goes back to Nashville's songwriters.  Songwriting in Nashville is a highly collaborative effort.  The songwriting community works together in all sorts of combinations to craft great music.  We also see that spirit in the open source software world which is a wide-open collaborative environment.  Our students will become part of the extended Nashville creative community and work in a craft where all meaningful projects are team efforts.  They need to be ready to play well with others.</p>
          <p>Our program is built on and around a culture of collaboration.  You'll be collaborating with the other students in your cohort from the first week on projects and pair-programming exercises.  You'll work with your mentors and instructors.  You will work on projects with web designers and customers from the very first training module.</p>
        </div>
    </div>

  <div class="spaceLast">
    <div class="aboutSlide clearfix">
      <div class='value'>
        <div class="valuePic imgFix">
          <img class="imgBorder" src="<?php echo get_template_directory_uri(); ?>/images/continue.png"/>
        </div>
      </div>
        <div class ='value-right'>
          <div class="aboutBorder">
            <h2 class="smallHeadline valueMargin">Continuing to Learn</h2>
          </div>
          <p>We give our students a running start on their career but they have the responsibility to keep going.  One of the challenges of being a software professional is the constantly changing nature of technology.  There's always something new to learn.  There's always a new career frontier that needs to be conquered.  There are many career paths that can be taken from a solid foundation of software professional skills but each path has its own specialized knowledge requirements.</p>
          <p>To help prepare our students for the requirement to constantly continue to learn, we believe we must teach our students how to learn.  They must understand their own personal learning style, learn the types of educational material will be most helpful to them as they must learn new technologies in the future and feel comfortable with constantly pursuing new knowledge.</p>
          <p>Our Evening Program (coming in mid-2014) is intended to support the continuing education needs of the entire Nashville software community.  It provides an alternative to our full-time Bootcamp for those who seek to enter into a career in software development.  It also provides a way for practicing software professionals to learn new technologies and expand their skill set.</p>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
<?php get_footer(); ?>