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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
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GET YOUR CHILD A BLACK BELT IN
COMPUTER PROGRAMMING
T
his spring, a new dojo is coming to Wexford. Code Ninjas, a
computer programming academy that uses the martial arts
theme as an analogy for coding, will be opening its doors to
school-age kids and will be the first of its kind of school in
the region for learning the STEM skills necessary for today’s youth to
make it in the real world.
Owned by Veronica Yusz-Meyner and Dave Meyner, a husband and
wife team of engineers, Code Ninjas is a place where absolute novices
can master the computer languages of C and Java by the time they
earn their black belts in coding.
“Everyone goes through a belt system and starts with Scratch—a
programming language geared toward small children developed by
MIT,” said Yusz-Meyner. “They work up to C and Java and, at the end of
their training, they are able to submit an app that they created to the
App Store.”
Having a great app idea on the market means that kids could
actually make money back on the investment in their coding skills.
During their initial research, Veronica and Dave were surprised that
there wasn’t already a school like this in Pittsburgh.
“Pittsburgh is one of the most tech-oriented cities out there,” Yusz-
Meyner said. “So we were shocked that there isn’t something available
like this for kids, especially schools focusing on STEM curriculum and
eventual careers. Having a coding background helps kids not only if
they choose to pursue a computer science career. The critical thinking
skills and teamwork development can help with any career path.”
The way Code Ninjas works is through a self-paced, drop-in
curriculum. The dojo has space for up to 30 students at a time,
but the drop-in scheduling means that there will always be seats
available. It also means parents don’t have to worry about having
another commitment on the calendar that they need to plan
around. Instructors, or senseis, help kids through the curriculum and
ensure that kids can advance at their own pace. The results of their
learning can be seen almost immediately as they create games out of
predefined building blocks of code.
“The first step is getting students to think like programmers, think
about the logic and progression of things, how to order them so
that they flow, and then how to make that happen,” Meyner said. “In
the beginning, they’re learning problem solving and group team
work. They’re working just as they would be on a programming
development team, but they’re all working on their own individual
projects. They won’t just be sitting there typing away. This has been
created to be fun and it really is.”
For more information on Code Ninjas, go to codeninjas.com/
locations/pa-wexford online, where you can see a full overview of the
program and request more information to be sent to you via email.
Make sure to check back as spring approaches for the page to be
updated with grand opening information, hours of operation and
more.
PINE-RICHLAND
❘
SPRING 2019
23