Returning to where it all started, we’re bringing CO.LAB, presented by Open Source Stories, back to Boston this week for a new experience designed to engage students in the principles of open source and show them what a career in open source looks like.

CO.LAB is an immersive learning experience focused on collaboration, community and open source principles. Up until now, the initiative was focused on middle school girls who had minimal exposure to open source technology or coding. Working collaboratively with the City of Boston and Boston Public Schools, we’ve invited female and male high school students to learn what it's like to be a Red Hatter and how to work professionally in an open environment.

Twenty high school students from Boston Public Schools will join us in our Boston Open Innovation Labs to:

• Learn agile and scrum methodologies and put them into practice through hands-on workshop to build a city out of Lego bricks

• Explore basic circuitry and dive into the world of programmable wearables in a “hack your pack” workshop that teaches them to add LEDs and a power source to their backpacks

• Hear from Mayor Martin J. Walsh on youth employment and Boston’s summer jobs program

• Learn skills to enhance their collaboration and resilience skills

• Practice interviewing and public speaking

• Network with members of Boston’s business community.

In true open source spirit, we are collaborating with key organizations to bring CO.LAB to life, including: Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and his office; Boston Private Industry Council; Carbonite; Commonwealth Corporation; The Dearborn School; Excel Academy; Hack.Diversity; Jeremiah E. Burke High School; and John D. O'Bryant School Of Mathematics and Science.

Part of Red Hat’s Open Source Stories initiative, CO.LAB is the latest Red Hat effort to highlight and share stories about how openness can be a catalyst for change. Red Hat has championed communities - both big and small - as we strive to build innovative technologies. And now, with Open Source Stories, we are sharing what happens when people defy convention and say to the world: “Take this. Build on it. Make it better.”

Follow along with the CO.LAB initiative via www.redhat.com/colab and social media via #RedHatCOLAB and #opensourcestories. For more information about Open Source Stories, visit https://www.redhat.com/en/open-source-stories.