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TEACHING__TECH TWO CODING CAMPS ON THE FUTURE OF TECH IN JACKSONVILLE LINDSEY NOLEN
DIVING INTO STEM WITH CODING SHARKS Since the spread of the coronavirus and push for quarantine, kids are spending more time at home than ever before. This confinement has made the mission of two entrepreneurs and their coding education company founded in February, called Coding Sharks, as important as ever. According to the Center on Media and Public Health, 66% of tweens aged 8 to 12 play video games for an average of two hours per day. Ricky Thais and Kevin Copeland believe if these two hours were instead spent learning to code, this could lead children to an exciting career involving their passions later in life. “I’m a parent of three boys and I think I share the same frustration as many other parents where they see their kids on devices non-stop,” Thais explained. “I just got tired of watching them play silly games and watch silly videos. I wanted to come up with a way where they could be passionate about learning something that is productive, but educational in a fun way.” Copeland added that the concept behind Coding Sharks has always been to teach STEM in a way so that children don’t even realize that they’re learning. He stresses that by fostering this type of learning environment, he and Thais have created a space where children genuinely want to continue building and playing with robots - even when their classes end. Built largely upon word of mouth, the Coding Sharks program accepts participation from students ages 7 to 13 on 40
Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Currently, enrollment has reached 100 students, but the program is growing. “It’s just a matter of how fast we can move, even with COVID-19 as a barrier of sorts,” Thais said. “Right now Kenny Huffman is our head instructor. We want to eventually bring more instructors and teachers on board too.” While progressing with education amid the coronavirus has led to an emphasis on remote learning through technology, the virus has not necessarily led to increased enrollment. However, Thais and Copeland have used the virus’ far-reaching effects as a means to improve their overall program. “Coronavirus hit us hard, but in a sense it kind of helped us. We were growing way too fast and it gave us a chance to slow down and refine our curriculum,” Thais said. “Everything happens for a reason.” The incorporation of 3-D printing, coding, robotics and even building Raspberry Pi, a series of small singleboard computers, is now a regular part of the Coding Sharks curriculum. Thais and Copeland believe that the key to success in teaching kids to code is not limiting themselves to any number or type of technical learning. “We continue to build upon that curriculum as things go along,” Thais said. “There are companies out there that are very good at what they do, whether that’s LEGO or robotics. But kids can get bored after a while, so we’re constantly
changing things up and it’s been working out amazing.” Although Thais identified that some parents are still afraid to have their kids outside of the home, he says others have shown that they want their children to be able to return to learning in a social environment. It’s in this type of environment that Thais and Copeland are able to pay attention to each child’s needs and assess their ability to learn. “Parents are amazed that their children are not only picking up on coding, but pushing themselves further each and every week,” Copeland said. “Many parents still don’t understand exactly what coding means, but the children have fallen in love with the idea that they get to create something and put it right into action.” In terms of competition, both Thais and Copeland welcome others to take an interest in STEM learning. Both believe that the bigger the coding and overall STEM community can grow, the greater the impact on today’s youth. “We want to get as many children to fall in love with interesting [topics] like coding and building robots,” Copeland shared. “Competition is something that we want because it just impacts more and more children. We want to help tell the story of where Jacksonville coding is going.” “Our overall goal is to become a vocation technology school for children all across the globe beginning with Jacksonville as the main hub,” Thais added.
