Introducing: CODEversity
This summer, Students Rising Above (SRA) offers “CODEversity,” a virtual, 9-week summer program that exposes students to basic coding skills while providing a better understanding of career paths in the tech industry. CODEversity is open to all Rising Stars and SOAR students who are interested in coding, no matter their skill level. Twenty-six participants have come together to learn more about coding with programs such as HTML, CSS, and Python. The goal of the program is for students to have the familiarity and confidence to create their own websites.
Students participate in lab sessions where they are given virtual instruction and coding how-to’s. This program is flexible for students across all experience levels and academic majors, the difficulty of activities varies from “mild to medium to spicy.” The goal of CODEversity is to offer hard skills—such as coding—along with the soft skills that students gain in other SRA Career Development programs. There are milestones throughout the program that will culminate in a website for students to include their own Spotify playlists.
Throughout the program, students are supported by program leads, Edylwise Romero and Paula Galvez-Anzano, as well as the Advisory Committee—a team of volunteers who create the curriculum, work with the participants, and answer questions outside of their lab sessions. One committee member noted that,
“Since joining, I’ve been able to create curriculum plans, slides, and projects for CODEversity students to complete. I’m especially proud of this year’s HTML-CSS-Python project which allows students to express their musical interests through a [web page] that accesses students’ favorite songs on Spotify. I believe hands-on learning, lab-based instruction, and the creative struggles that come with it are a great way to engage with this material. I believe that tech education is critical to our world today itself, and every student should have access to good tech education. The hardest thing about learning something new or stepping outside your comfort zone is getting started, which is why CODEversity projects & mentorship are all so important to me. It’s been a great pleasure working with SRA students, who are always enthusiastic and willing to take on new challenges. I hope that future runs of the class lead to even better projects and even more support for students!”
CODEversity is now in its third year as an SRA Summer Program, but this year it is sponsored by GAP Inc. This sponsorship allows SRA to support up to 45 students, while offering additional career exposure and networking within the tech industry.
Written and Published by Sunari Weaver-Anderson
