It's billed as one of “Australia’s fastest growing social impact businesses” by inspiring and empowering tens of thousands of Australian school students with the skills of tomorrow. Will you set your kids up in Code Camp?
The company started in 2014, when tech entrepreneurs “Benjamin Levi and Pete Neill met and began a passion project sharing the secrets they'd learned in the start-up industry with kids in their local area".
As the potential to make a huge impact became clear, we’re told that “Ben and Pete were joined by co-founders Hayley Markham and Daniel Zwolenski, all committed to the cause of helping kids move from digital consumers to creators".
{loadposition alex08}Since then, the four say they have “together built a business which now employs more than 30 full-time and 1000 casual staff, has inspired and taught more than 20,000 Australian school students to design and code iPhone apps, online games, digital worlds, and websites during their school holidays".
So, why is this important?
Well, in today’s world, Code Camp explains that “being able to code is comparable to having a super power; many people have great app and startup ideas, very few can turn those ideas into reality".
The organisation is now sponsored by Westpac and powered by HP, and has impressively “taught over 20,000 kids from 5 to 13, and is on a mission to inspire and empower 200,000 Australian tech superheroes by 2020.”
The camps, which run for three to four days, are “fun, collaborative, social, creative, inspiring and engaging school holidays programs providing real outcomes (iPhone and Android apps, and websites) students can proudly share with friends and family across the globe".
Code Camp then says they “continue the fun post-holiday camps, by providing access to their brand new coding platform, Code Camp World, and providing weekly video content and challenges for students to continue on at home".
Today, Code Camp is going a step further, “also becoming involved in in-school teaching, inspiring teachers and co-facilitating in the classroom – providing teachers with the resources and tools to teach the new digital curriculum to primary and secondary students".
Co-chief executive Levi says, "Learning to code is about more than becoming a developer. It allows students to be creative with technology, develop logical thinking and problem solving skills and an understanding of computational thinking. Through app building, students learn about game design, user experience and the entrepreneurial mindset. These skills can be adapted to any industry."
The other co-chief executiveNeill, says, “We’re on a mission to inspire future creators; we want to show students they can create anything they can imagine. We aim to show kids that technology creates a life full of excitement, exploration and discovery."
Chief operating officer Markham is most excited about inspiring a generation of female coders and innovators. Code Camp’s aim is to hit a 50/50 gender split between boys and girls. Markham says, “We’re setting out this season to tip the scales back in balance and prove to girls all over the country that they can be coding and digital creative super heroes too!"
Chief technology officer Zwolenski says, “When you’re eight years old, creating your own game is one step short of getting into Hogwarts. Code Camp allows students to be creative with technology, while developing logical thinking and problem solving skills. We teach them to be creators of technology, not just passive consumers."
So, who cares about "one time at band camp" and those American pies, when your child can go to Code Camp and experience coding success and learning highs?
