Code Fever, a Miami-based nonprofit that helps high school students to code, learn and build technology within their communities, on Thursday announced a plan to increase coding and entrepreneurial training for local students and parents from low-income neighborhoods. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is supporting the Code Fever expansion with a grant of $75,000.
The program will provide several learning opportunities for high school students, including summer camps, weekend boot camps and courses during the school year. Most of the Code Fever workshops will take place over the summer with four weekend boot camps and five normal workshops, ranging from two to eight weeks in duration. Code Fever will also create school courses for the 2014-15 academic year at five high schools in South Florida.
Code Fever is primarily geared toward students between the ages of 13-21 from underserved neighborhoods. Monthly training is also offered to parents to provide them with new skills and help them actively engage on technology topics at home. Through the program, students are given the opportunity to learn about software development, Web and mobile app development, user experience and testing, interface design, project management and social media strategies. They are also given pitch training in investment or marketing and attend a demo day with community leaders and potential investors.
“At Code Fever we’ve merged technology and entrepreneurship in our programs to shift the mindset of young African-American and Caribbean adults from technology consumers to technology innovators and community change agents,” said Felicia Hatcher, Code Fever co-founder. “Our sole objective is for the students to have something tangible to walk away with at the end of our programs, be prepared to fill tech positions or create tech jobs, see tech in every industry, and influence conversations at home and in organizations.”
The expansion of Code Fever programs forms one part of Knight Foundation’s efforts to invest in Miami’s emerging innovators and entrepreneurs as a tool to build community, while fostering talent and opportunity. Over the past 18 months Knight has made more than 50 investments in entrepreneurship in South Florida.
For more information on Code Fever and to apply to the program please visit: codefevermiami.com
- Submitted by the Knight Foundation.
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