City of Birmingham, Birmingham Schools and Lawson State Announce New Coding Initiative
The City of Birmingham is teaming with Birmingham City Schools and Lawson State Community College to launch Birmingham Can Code, an initiative that looks to equip students with the tech skill necessary to be competitive in an increasingly digital world.
The free boot camps will be held at Lawson State over the span of four weeks that will include a range of resources, from helping students explore basic coding concepts to building fully functional apps. The camps will be held for high school students June 18-21 and July 9-12, and for middle schoolers June 25-28 and July 16-19.
On May 16, Lawson State welcomed investors, teachers, community leaders, parents and students for an informational session to help participants understand that coding is truly for everyone.
Presentation participants ranged from novice technology users to experienced coders, giving attendees a hands-on tutorial of Swift and helping them engage in a bit of coding on iPads.
The Birmingham Can Code initiative will strive to connect resources from a variety of entities across the city, both public and private, in order to foster a creative approach to problem solving. The program’s goal is introduce coding to all Birmingham students in order to start businesses, confront community challenges and make a positive impact on society.
“Equipping our students with the best possible digital education is a high priority for my administration,” Mayor Randall Woodfin said. “We’re committed to training the next generation of businessmen and businesswomen to be competitive and digitally savvy so that they can push our city to the next level.”
Mayor Woodfin, along with a delegation of leaders, visited Chicago in April to meet with Apple, Inc. in order to foster this new partnership around education, technology, and jobs of the future.
“I learned about coding last summer but it wasn’t as fun,” as these camps, said Kamora Porter, 14. “This is more like a game, like an app. It’s more appealing to the youth.”
“All change starts with the youth,” she added. “Once you learn more about coding, they can increase the careers in coding and change Birmingham.”
The camps will take place from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. with lunch and transportation included for all attendees. For full details on the summer boot camp series please visit https://www.birminghamal.gov/bhamcodes.
There are 25 spots available for each camp and will be filled on a first-come first-serve basis. All registration for the boot camps will be done through Birmingham City Schools. To register, please complete this form.
Individuals and groups looking to invest in the Birmingham Can Code Initiative can email bhamcodes@birminghamal.gov.
