TYLER, Texas — Parents, if your child seems glued to their smart device, listen up!
Code Ninjas, a learning center focused around STEM learning, recently opened in Tyler.
Chris and Ashley Smith both hold careers in STEM fields and say opening the franchise is "an idea they fell in love with."
Ashley works in engineering and says she would love to see more kids sign up.
“I’m not sure there's any career you go into now that you don’t have to have some sort of computer based knowledge and this gives the kids an excellent foundation to go where they want to go," Ashley said.
Code Ninjas teaches skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking through game-building, coding and robotics.
Center Director Shelley Browning says this is something kids may not focus on in a typical school curriculum.
"I just think the kids that are joining the program are going to have a leg up on the competition on the jobs of tomorrow," Shelley said.
Students like Jaxon Bartlett, 11, and Reece Reick, 7, spent their time Monday afternoon building 3D models on computer programs, earning their first belts in the "path of enlightenment" belt system.
"I've always been inspired by the stuff I do in my free time." said Bartlett
Ashley says the belt system is a way of tracking milestone and growth that kids earn through visits to the center.
“The create program is the belt program for 7-14-year-old kids that have a strong reading background," Ashle said.