Color Coded Kids recently launched its partnership with Mastercard St. Louis with a two-hour workshop on Mastercard’s O’Fallon campus. The team hosted 25 students from Kenneth C. Hanrahan Elementary School of the Jennings School District.
The founder of Color Coded Kids, Shay Gillespie, wants to expose and educate as many children as possible to the computer programming field, regardless of what economic background they come from.
“I believe every child should have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of coding to increase the diversity and inclusivity in the technology field,” Gillespie said. “That’s the purpose of this organization.”
Kenneth C. Hanrahan Elementary, part of the Jennings School District in North St. Louis County, houses students grades four through six from some of the St. Louis region’s lowest-income communities.
“We are so grateful for this partnership,” Art McCoy, superintendent of the Jennings School District, said after attending the Color Coded Kids workshop. “Each student was empowered, enlightened, and engaged. Each student scholar saw where they could go in life and what great things they can do today and in the future.”
The 25 pre-selected students who participated in the workshop have the opportunity to be one of 10 awardees of a newly created Mastercard-Color Coded Kids Scholarship. The final 10 students will receive a full Mastercard scholarship for Color Coded kids 12-week video game design course. This course teaches students how to create their very own video games.
“It was important for LEAD – Leading Employees of African American Descent, a business resource group at Mastercard – to find a way to create another STEM opportunity for minority students,” said Tracee Green, a consultant in Project Management and Employee Digital Experience at Mastercard.
“We are excited about partnering with Jennings and Color Coded Kids to help to educate more students on the careers that are available to them outside of what they may normally be exposed to. Having those students onsite with us for our pilot workshop was extremely valued across the board.”
Color Coded Kids was established in 2016, designed for elementary, middle school and high school students to develop, nurture, and create an early interest in the technology sector. This classroom setting focuses on the fundamentals of programming while ensuring the environment is interactive, educational and fun. Its goal is to help kids to develop a love for technology at an early age to ultimately increase the talent pool of qualified candidates in technology-related careers.
For more information, visit https://www.colorcodedkids.com/ or email shay@colorcodedkids.com.
