South Bend high school holds summer coding camp

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Purdue Polytechnic High School, or PPHS, is holding a coding camp this summer.

The camp is free and is open to all rising 8th and 9th graders.

During the camp, the youngsters will learn the basics of coding and create a dodge-style game.

There are nearly infinite possibilities for customizing dodge style games, and creativity is highly encouraged by PPHS.

“Today is our first day of our coding camp. We have this started in partnership with the South Bend Code School, and we are teaching students that are going into either 8th or 9th grade how to code with Scratch so that they can design their own video games. This is our first time doing a coding camp. We are hopefully going to be able to continue to do this year after year. The coaches are all having a lot of fun with it,” said Steph Ebersol, Community Outreach Coordinator for Purdue Polytechnic High School South Bend.

If you’ve never heard of PPHS, you’re not alone. Now going into its second year in South Bend, the school is looking to slowly grow its numbers while providing students with the skills to succeed.

“Here at Purdue Polytechnic High School, one of our biggest things that we focus on is trying to have an equal opportunity for all students, and we really focus on equity. So, we are 100% free, no technology fee, no tuition fee, nothing like that. And what we’re hoping to accomplish is to teach our students how to think and how to have critical thinking skills and problem solve. We never want to tell them what to think, but how to.”

PPHS just had its first graduating class of 4 students, one senior and three juniors are graduating early. Two of the graduates are heading off to Purdue University, one is starting an apprenticeship, and one is taking a gap year to consider what career path they want to pursue.

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