CodeNow Programs a Bright Future for Kids
The computer programming field looks about as exciting to most people as mowing their lawn with a pair of scissors. We imagine a field dominated by spastic geeks, hovering in lightless rooms over screens full of green Matrix code zooming past their eyes while they somehow magically decipher it. CodeNow is a nonprofit that decided to make computer programming accessible to inner city high-schoolers by making it fun!
Instant gratification
By the end of day one in the CodeNow program, students already know how to build their first video game or animation, which they could eventually translate to a smartphone app and sell. For the rest of the 30-40 hour program, they are assigned puzzles to solve and challenges which allow them to apply the programming skills they’ve learned. Intensive 300 training hour fellowships are available for those who show programming aptitude and interest, which could lay the groundwork for a lucrative career in computer programming or computer tech support.
11th grader Marcus told CodeNow, “My favorite part of the weekend was the ability to create video games. I find video games a lot of fun and after this weekend, I love it even more.”
Brightening the future for diversity
CodeNow focuses on bringing female, minority, and low-income applicants into the program in order to reach these under-represented demographics, and the program boasts an enrollment that is more than 40% girls! That’s a noticeable contrast to the professional computing workforce, which is comprised of only 5% Latino and African Americans, and 22% women.
A booming industry
By 2020, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 22% increase in all computer occupations, and a 28-32% increase in software programming careers. That’s a massive growth industry in an economy dominated by uncertainty and diminishing returns. Outside of software programming, the CodeNow program also builds a foundation for lucrative careers in data recovery, internet security, and computer repair.
CodeNow founder Ryan Seashore told ZDnet.com, “Teaching other kids to code isn’t a complex idea. As I did more and more research, I didn’t find others doing this in a scalable way.” He went on to say that he founded CodeNow out of pure frustration with the digital divide between minorities and coding, because “it’s one of those companies that needed to exist.”
Since launching in 2011, CodeNow reports that it has provided 18,000 hours of free training, and awarded 216 laptops to students. One third of the program graduates have gone on to major in computer science in college.
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