Below is the blog post I wrote for our town's website... I was so pleased with it I decided to re-blog it here too!! What a roller coaster ride it's been in such a short space of time. Things have grown so fast yet there's no slowing in the momentum, in fact, we're only just beginning to find our feet... The community have become like family and there have been life long friendships established from parents, mentors and children alike!! I'm so proud to be a part of Port Coder Dojo.
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Port Coder Dojo
Have you heard the latest buzz word around at the moment? It’s Coder Dojo….
What is Coder Dojo? CoderDojo is a free not-for-profit coding club for young people. It’s more that in fact, it’s a global movement that started in Ireland only 3 years ago!!
At a CoderDojo, young people learn how to code, develop websites, apps, programs, games and more. Dojos are set up, run by and taught at by volunteers. Dojos organise tours of technology companies, bring in guest speakers to talk about their career and what they do, and organise events. In addition to learning to code, members meet like minded people, show off what they’ve been working on and so on. CoderDojo makes development and learning to code a fun, sociable, kick ass experience. CoderDojo also puts a strong emphasis on open source and free software, and has a strong network of members and volunteers globally.
With this in mind, the Education committee of Portarlington Community Development Association, introduced Coder Dojo to Portarlington in March of this year (2013) The potential that Coder Dojo could bring to the furtures of the children of Portarlington was envisioned by these volunteers and a new club and opportunity was born.
Oriel House Beginnings
Coder Dojo Portarlington’s humble beginnings were in Oriel House, with around 20 children. We had a single coding mentor, a local chap, who happen to work within the IT sector (Thanks Mark). Mark kindly volunteered his time to begin teaching the children many different ways to code, create games, websites (the list goes on). It was here that Mary Oakley and Celia Deverell brought in the first of the volunteers. The volunteers were parents of some of the “Ninjas” and a Community was born. Slowly but surely extra mentors came onboard, and we were off….
Towards our humble beginnings, we had a volunteer attend the Coder Dojo Conference, which was held in Slane Castle where many tips and connections were made and the vision of Coder Dojo Portarlington was established and encouraged to grow.
Meeting James Whelton at DojoCon2013
The founders James Whelton and Bill Liao both encouraged our club and were on hand at the conference for advice and sharing of ideas. Their vision and ethos is that of a community working together, open to absolutely everyone, while encouraging a healthy learning environment and the one rule above all
“Be Cool”
As the word spread locally, and more children joined, we had to split everyone into two groups, with 25 children in each group. They attended on alternate weeks. The classes were repeated so both groups were learning at a similar pace. The numbers slowly crept up and a waiting list was established as unfortunately the space could only facilitate a certain number of “Ninjas” at any one time. The founding members of the Education committee were determined to open the club to as wide an audience as possible, leaving nobody behind, and as we had the support of all the parents and mentors, it was here that the hunt was on for a new venue!
In May, we temporarily moved to the Portarlington Community Centre who kindly offered
us the space necessary & we were delighted to be able to open the doors to the club to the remaining children on the waiting list… Although we didn’t have access to PC’s anymore in the new venue, and not everyone had access to a laptop, the education committee established a relationship with Camara. Camara provides technology to help improve the livlihood and education skills to communities around the world. It’s through this relationship that Coder Dojo Portarlington facilitated the purchase of laptops by parents, for those who needed one, at an incredible cost. To date we have ordered and distributed 18 laptops!!
us the space necessary & we were delighted to be able to open the doors to the club to the remaining children on the waiting list… Although we didn’t have access to PC’s anymore in the new venue, and not everyone had access to a laptop, the education committee established a relationship with Camara. Camara provides technology to help improve the livlihood and education skills to communities around the world. It’s through this relationship that Coder Dojo Portarlington facilitated the purchase of laptops by parents, for those who needed one, at an incredible cost. To date we have ordered and distributed 18 laptops!!
At this point, in our growth, we had over 100 members! The sense of community spirit and comradory was palpabile as we all piled in together, setting up seating and tables, sharing lessons, some sharing laptops, sharing ideas, having fun, and even developing friendships (both parents and children alike).
Our next step was to find a way to purchase the “Ninjas” white belts… As our club is a “Dojo” there would be grading along the way, just like karate. These would be awareded at each childs individual pace to encourage and award their achievements in all areas, from learning the basics to showing social good. Everything about Coder Dojo is free. The idea is that nobody in the wider community is left out. Some of the volunteers and committee members came together to begin a fundraising drive and search for sponsorship. (Each white belt costs approximately 5 euro and with over 100 children involved, this was quite a task)
Portarlington Pharmacy sponsors Port Coder Dojo
We were absolutely delighted to be approached by Portarlington Pharmacy at this point. They were encouraged and inspired by Portarlington Coder Dojo and stepped up to the plate to support the club. Portarlington Pharmacy have developed a wonderful relationship within the community over their years in the town, and it was with great pride that Port Coder Dojo would receive sponsorship from them and be in a position to present our “Ninjas” with their first White Belts at a presentation party to be held at the end of June.
While we have grown immensely over the first three months, we are still finding our feet… We have yet to find a permanent home for the club and we are always on the look out for new Mentors, as well as some day to day hiccups… However Port Coder Dojo has come a long way in such a short space of time. It’s with the help and support of the Education Committee of the PCDA, the mentors who so generously give of their time, and the volunteers who keep the cogs running behind the scenes that there is a long, successful, and prosperous future for our club, which will in turn, help make the futures very bright for the young people of our town.
For further information, please visit our Facebook Page, Twitter Feed or indeed drop us a line at coderdojoportarlington@gmail.com
