Coming from the corporate world, the owner of Code Ninjas in Castle Rock, Andy Lathrop, enjoys teaching about the science behind coding to ensure our future STEM leaders.
“My interest is really around the intersection of teaching, mentoring, and coaching with technology,” says Andy. “I’ve done teaching in the past, whether it’s volunteering, tutoring, teaching math at the community college level, or being in training roles with my corporate job…I like helping others learn.”
Andy decided to combine his passions for coding and teaching when he opened a Code Ninjas franchise in Castle Rock in 2021. Since then, he has helped many kids develop coding skills to create games, robots, and more.
“Our focus is ages 7-14,” Andy explains. “During the school year our main program is called Create and that’s a self-paced coding program so the kids will schedule either one or two hours a week.”
While the kids work on their coding, the Code Ninja instructors, called senseis, guide students through any issues and track their progress. Break times throughout the hour include physical STEM activities like Legos and robotics to stimulate creativity and movement.
As the kids progress through their coding program, milestones and rewards help showcase their accomplishments and promote excitement for their next endeavor.
“We go white through black belt, which is kind of like regular martial arts,” Andy states. “There are various milestones within those belts and from belt to belt.”
When black belt is achieved, Code Ninjas pulls out all the stops. In the past, they have had the Mayor and Congressmen show up to watch the kids’ presentations and see their coding in action.
Andy is proud of the kids who come through his programs and sees it as a massive investment in their future. Once they reach black belt status, the kids have the coding skills of college students, and they’re only 12 or 13 years old!
In fact, Andy has hired some of his black belt students to work with the younger kids in the program, further advancing their skills and teaching them the power of mentoring.
In addition to the monthly subscription to Code Ninjas, they offer workshops on Minecraft and 3D printing and game nights that are pay-as-you-go without a commitment. This allows students to decide if they like coding and want to delve into it more.
“It can be for about an hour and a half on a Saturday,” Andy explains about the workshops. “They could sign up for as little as $25 and come in and learn something cool in Minecraft like how to build their own custom time and have a lot of fun.” In addition, they offer holiday and summer camps for deeper dives into topics like AI (artificial intelligence), robotics, or game creation.
Andy explains how his curriculum revolves around building games. At the end of a coding project, the kids can play the game they created. They learn coding, creativity, patience, and the satisfaction of a job well done.
“In terms of investing for the future, it’s a good opportunity to start young and let them explore their interests,” Andy says. “I would also say the breadth of different skills is investing so being able to see a project from start to finish, starting at nine years old and that sense of satisfaction, and overcoming the challenges that go along with that.”
“The breadth of different skills is investing. Being able to see a project from start to finish. Starting at nine, that sense of satisfaction, and overcoming the challenges that go along with that.”