Editor’s note: Durham School Board has joined a growing national movement to get entrepreneurs involved in education. ExitEvent’s Laura Baverman reports in this latest story that is part of the news partnership between WRALTechWire and ExitEvent.

DURHAM, N.C. - A Microsoft engineer wanted to do something about the lack of computer science education in Seattle public schools. So he contacted a local high school and began to teach 12 students how to code.

That was five years ago. Today, his program called Technology Education and Literacy in Schools (TEALS) has 280 software engineers volunteering as teachers and mentors to 3,300 students in 70 U.S. high schools. They’ve developed computer science curriculum that teachers use to train students for 21st century technology careers.

And their big goal is to get computer science education in every high school.

That’s also a wish of the entrepreneurial community growing in Durham. And those startup founders and workers weren’t afraid to speak it at yesterday’s focus group with Durham Board of Education Chair Heidi Carter and Vice Chair Minnie Forte-Brown.

The Board is taking a collaborative approach to finding the next leader for its 33,400 student school district. Though it’s hired a national recruiter to identify candidates, the job description will be written with the help of the community. The focus group at American Underground Tuesday was the third this week. Board members expect to finalize a candidate profile by Friday and to post it around the nation in coming days and weeks.

The full story can be read online at ExitEvent.