After School Clubs

In 2022, we organized a total of 9 after-school clubs with 6 of those clubs being at schools, 2 virtual, and 1 at Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas. With these clubs, we were able to reach a total of 407 kids. That’s 407 kids we saw on a regular basis, helping them learn how coding can be fun and creative, and not just 1’s and 0’s on a computer screen (though, that can be fun too).

After our clubs finished, we found that 96% of our students saw themselves working in a computing type field. On top of that, 92% of our after school coding club students felt an increase in their ability to create things with computers, which we could see throughout the year as our students created their final projects for the year.

Coding Camps

For the 2022 year, we partnered and collaborated on 11 coding camps with Palo Alto College, CS4SA, Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, Southwest Research Institute, Autism Community Network, and the Spurs. Our camps are a way for students to get in-depth and hands-on experience with different computer technologies, as well as meet other students who share their interests. Each camp has a project component where students can work together or individually to showcase what they learned from the camp.

Through our camps, we were able to serve 151 kids with 50% of them feeling more confident in their abilities to their coding abilities after camp ended. We also found that 81% of our campers felt like they belonged in computer science after completing camp, while 92% of campers found computer science to actually be kind of cool.

Code Jams

A Code Jam is a free event that allows all students and their grown-ups to explore coding and technology in an inclusive and interactive environment. In 2022, we put together 1 Community Code Jam and 1 Mini Code Jam that we did with the Spurs. Between the Code Jams, we saw 315 kids and guardians come through our event with 100% of those participants learning something new. After leaving our event, 98% participants were interested in learning more about coding and 91% said they were interested in learning about jobs in the field.

Volunteers

Youth Code Jam wouldn’t be where it is today without the help of our amazing volunteers! From our volunteer board to the volunteers who help at our events, to the ones that help us spread the word, we can’t do any of this without their helping hands. Last year, our 150 volunteers contributed 839 hours to our organization. That’s a lot of people taking their time out of their busy work day to help us in different ways.

Overall

Over all our programs, were able to help bring and show what coding can really do to 1,777 kids throughout San Antonio and online. We also spent a total of 6,132 hours coding our brains out, all in the name of computer science. As we are well into 2023, we are continuing our drive to create inclusive opportunities for all youth to experience computer science and explore with code. We’ll be back with some more of our statistics next year, but for now you can look through more of our 2022 stats by clicking the button below.

Kids who learn how to code from an early age not only help improve their math and writing skills, but it also gives them valuable life skills that they need for everyday life and in the workforce. Children learning code is important for a multitude of reasons. Today, we’re taking a look at the top 5 reasons coding is important for your child’s academic success.

What is Coding?

Before we dive right in, let’s start with the basics. Coding is a method of communicating with a computer. It’s using a language that a computer understands to give the computer instructions to perform specific functions. Coding allows us to create things such as computer software, websites, apps, and video games.

Just like there are different languages in the human world, there are also a variety of coding languages. What language you choose depends on what you want to develop. Different programming languages also have their own set of rules. But we come back to the basic function of it all and it’s that coding gives instructions to a computer to produce a desired outcome.

Programming teaches children to problem-solve

Learning the basics of coding and gaining an understanding of computers helps children to develop an appreciation of how things work. It also shows that engineers use math to solve problems in logical and creative ways in their everyday life.

Solving problems is something that almost every profession needs to utilize. Children become excellent problem solvers so that they can overcome any adversity that may come their way. Learning to code and gain this problem-solving ability along with coding exposure. It’s a win-win situation.

Code helps expand your child’s creativity

Computer programming teaches children to experiment while also giving them the confidence to be creative with their code. They have the chance to design something that is entirely their own with the coding skills that they learn. Just like when a child is learning a new painting technique or learning a new instrument, it can feel daunting at first, but once they get a handle on the basics, they can get creative with where they want their code to go and how they want to utilize it.

Coding makes math more fun and engaging

We all know for some kids, math is not their strong suit, and having that feeling can take away from your child’s educational journey. Coding helps children build those math skills and makes learning math more fun and engaging. Since coding and math go hand-in-hand, your child will acquire these mathematical skills and abilities without even noticing them because they are having fun creating.

Coders learn by doing

Learning by doing refers to a theory of education brought on by American philosopher, John Dewey. Learning by doing is a hands-on approach to learning where students interact with their environment to adapt and learn. It is also the idea that we learn more when we actually “do” the activity.

As an example, imagine a child learning to play a new video game. With the learning-by-doing approach, the child would understand the app or game device they are using to play the game. Later, they begin to discover more about the movement of objects, points they can earn, and so on. Rather than a passive practice, it involves an active engagement. This active engagement encourages mistakes, notices wrong movements, and how to learn from those and move on and understand the why.

Code prepares your child for the job opportunities of today

Most jobs today require employees to be computer literate, whether it’s using a CRM for sales or creating a corporate presentation. Something else to note about today’s job market is that competition is high and to stand out from the crowd your child needs to possess basic coding skills and beyond.

Computer jobs are currently growing at over twice the national average as coding has become a vital skill set. Coding specialists and computer programmers are well-paid professions that are becoming increasingly sought after as the world continues to evolve based on a digital future.

Time for your children to learn how to code!

At Youth Code Jam, we provide several ways to get your child involved with code. We partner with entities around town to put on coding camps for the summer. We provide coding clubs for a few schools in the San Antonio area, including a virtual camp. We also put on Code Jams that are open to the public! Check out our whole schedule here. We also provide a number of resources if you and your child would like to learn code outside of the classroom here.

Take a Look Back at Our 2022 Year