NC Central to offer free coding classes to help Durham residents land their next job

Brian Gordon
Bernard Thomas/bthomas@heraldsun.com

Beginning this fall, North Carolina Central University will offer 24 weeks of free coding lessons to a select number of career-switchers and new professionals in Durham.

“It is teaching the skill sets that will help people get up to speed to get the jobs they want,” said Siobahn Day Grady, program director of information science at NCCU.

The lessons are funded by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration, which awarded eight North Carolina historically Black colleges and universities, including NCCU, grants through its Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program.

To qualify, applicants must live within 15 miles of the university’s campus in South Durham and apply by Aug. 4.

“A lot of the communities around NC Central are underserved and marginalized,” Grady said. “These are our anchor communities.”

Grady, who was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer science at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, called coding both challenging and exciting. The programs are unlike traditional written languages; they feature words, dashes, semicolons and brackets — all organized in a particular syntax.

Yet coders, she said, can see the byproduct of their efforts “in real time.” Plus, the skills are essential to an array of today’s professions like web designer, data analyst and software engineer.

The curriculum will cover prominent programming languages like JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Git, and Python.

Python, in particular, has growing applications across many industries, said Jessica Mitsch Homes, cofounder and CEO of Momentum, the Raleigh-based educational technology company that will be teaching the NCCU lessons.

“We are working backwards from what you are going to need to do the job,” Homes said. “Writing code and, especially, reading code. Understanding how software products are built.”

Homes said the program will have 20 open slots.

“We have our participants on the first day getting their computer set up to code,” she said. “Learning concepts that are needed for a professional setting through projects and active, live demonstrations.”

More to know

  • Classes will be held virtually on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

  • Students will also have access to the NCCU campus in South Durham, with transportation available.

  • Classes are scheduled to begin on Sept. 18.

  • The deadline to apply is Aug. 4.

  • Eligible applicants must reside within a 15-mile radius of NCCU.

  • Additional support is available to those without internet access or a Mac laptop.

  • The application can be found online.

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