{"id":33994,"date":"2019-10-03T13:43:59","date_gmt":"2019-10-03T17:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=33994"},"modified":"2019-10-04T11:25:07","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T15:25:07","slug":"code-ninja-gives-children-tools-for-the-future-in-stem-education-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2019\/10\/code-ninja-gives-children-tools-for-the-future-in-stem-education-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Code Ninja Gives Children Tools For The Future In STEM Education Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_33995\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33995\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-33995\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2019\/10\/code-ninjas-hc-1024x734.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"734\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2019\/10\/code-ninjas-hc-1024x734.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2019\/10\/code-ninjas-hc-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2019\/10\/code-ninjas-hc-768x550.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2019\/10\/code-ninjas-hc.jpg 1518w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33995\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Neelima Kanakamedala, is co-owner of the Code Ninja franchise in Clifton Park. The center helps young people learn teamwork, math, problem solving and logic skills.<br \/>\u00a92019 Saratoga Photographer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By Susan E. Campbell<br \/>\nA new center in Clifton Park is helping young people learn teamwork, math, problem solving and logic while preparing them for careers in STEM.<br \/>\n\u201cCode Ninjas is my pride and passion,\u201d said Neelima Kanakamedala, co-owner of the franchise with Latha Jakkani and Uday Sree Kothamachu. The three celebrated the grand opening of the business on Sept. 7.<br \/>\nThe concept of learning coding is game-based and uses the black belt system of Tae Kwon Do to learn the basics, advance to new levels, and be rewarded along the way with a belt ceremony, said Kanakamedala. The classroom is the dojo, the instructor is the sensei, and the 7-to-14 year-old students are the ninjas.<!--more--><br \/>\n\u201cThe genesis of Code Ninjas came from the CEO\u2019s own Tae Kwon Do class and thinking about educational activities for his own children,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Tae Kwon Do system is for both brain and body and for the enhancement of life skills.\u201d<br \/>\nKanakamedala has a masters degree in childhood development. As her own children grew, she found for them an after-school program that introduced them to robotics and informed their future education.<br \/>\n\u201cMy son is a senior at RIT and my daughter is a cognitive science major,\u201c she said. \u201cTheir robotics program helped them achieve scholarship and curriculum.\u201d<br \/>\nKanakamedala did extensive research prior to buying a Code Ninjas franchise. A senior cybersecurity analyst for New York state and a professional risk analyst, she presented her business plan and projections to her mentor, a professor at SUNY Albany.<br \/>\n\u201cShe gave me a go,\u201d said Kanakamedala. \u201cThe local Small Business Administration helped further evaluate the plan and its risks, and we received our SBA loan from KeyBank without hesitation.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cThe business community will have a need for coding and other technology skills in only a few years,\u201d she said. \u201cBy 2020 there will be 3 million unfilled jobs in cybersecurity alone.\u201d<br \/>\nMuch-needed work force development can start early with curriculums such that Code Ninjas offers, and the company is preparing a growing number of future software developers and problem solvers for the challenges ahead.<br \/>\nSince 2016 the Texas-based firm has grown to 500 units in the United States, Canada and Europe, and the Clifton Park dojo is one of only two in the entire U.S., according to Kanakamedala.<br \/>\n\u201cThe game-based learning model is not just about computer programming but also providing an environment of collaboration and communication of ideas as ninjas build their games,\u201d she said. \u201cThese skills will take the students a long way in life.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cKids who are not exposed to technology can interact here and not be left behind,\u201c she said.<br \/>\nActivities are offered year-round, including \u201cday care\u201d over the summer months and school breaks.<br \/>\n\u201cCode Ninjas is a place where parents can feel comfortable sending their kids for a pizza party and fun with friends while working and learning together,\u201d said Kanakamedala.<br \/>\nThe center has a manager for day-to-day operations and eight sensei currently, with plans to hire six more. These are high school and college students who will interact with up to six ninjas at any one time.<br \/>\nKanakamedala said she and her business partners are getting the word out primarily through social media, but they also want to create awareness for Code Ninjas through community events.<br \/>\n\u201cNinja Care was rolled out to give back to the community,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery month there is a different theme.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cMy vision for the business is a holistic approach to brain and body wellness for families and kids,\u201d she said. \u201cCode Ninjas is a unique concept in the \u2018prove yourself\u2019 method of learning a task and building upon it progressively.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cThe student proceeds along the curriculum from the basics to more complex learning, design, coding, and building applications for electronic devices,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is very self\u2013based.\u201d<br \/>\nNinjas are awarded ceremonially with the presentation of different color belts along the way, from white to yellow, green, blue, brown, and ultimately black, she said.<br \/>\n\u201cBeing in the technology field, I see the need for coding early on,\u201d she said. \u201cBy partnering with parents we can provide children with a safe and encouraging environment to gain skills for the technology careers that await them.\u201d<br \/>\nVisit codeninjas.com for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Susan E. Campbell A new center in Clifton Park is helping young people learn teamwork, math, problem solving and logic while preparing them for careers in STEM. \u201cCode Ninjas is my pride and passion,\u201d said Neelima Kanakamedala, co-owner of the franchise with Latha Jakkani and Uday Sree Kothamachu. The three celebrated the grand opening [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":33995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-new-businesses"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Code Ninja Gives Children Tools For The Future In STEM Education Programs - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2019\/10\/code-ninja-gives-children-tools-for-the-future-in-stem-education-programs\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Code Ninja Gives Children Tools For The Future In STEM Education Programs - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Susan E. Campbell A new center in Clifton Park is helping young people learn teamwork, math, problem solving and logic while preparing them for careers in STEM. \u201cCode Ninjas is my pride and passion,\u201d said Neelima Kanakamedala, co-owner of the franchise with Latha Jakkani and Uday Sree Kothamachu. The three celebrated the grand opening [&hellip;]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2019\/10\/code-ninja-gives-children-tools-for-the-future-in-stem-education-programs\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-03T17:43:59+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-04T15:25:07+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2019\/10\/code-ninjas-hc.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1518\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1088\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jessewinters\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jessewinters\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2019\/10\/code-ninja-gives-children-tools-for-the-future-in-stem-education-programs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2019\/10\/code-ninja-gives-children-tools-for-the-future-in-stem-education-programs\/\",\"name\":\"Code Ninja Gives Children Tools For The Future In STEM Education Programs - Saratoga Business Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2019\/10\/code-ninja-gives-children-tools-for-the-future-in-stem-education-programs\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2019\/10\/code-ninja-gives-children-tools-for-the-future-in-stem-education-programs\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2019\/10\/code-ninjas-hc.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-03T17:43:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-04T15:25:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2019\/10\/code-ninja-gives-children-tools-for-the-future-in-stem-education-programs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2019\/10\/code-ninja-gives-children-tools-for-the-future-in-stem-education-programs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2019\/10\/code-ninja-gives-children-tools-for-the-future-in-stem-education-programs\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2019\/10\/code-ninjas-hc.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2019\/10\/code-ninjas-hc.jpg\",\"width\":1518,\"height\":1088,\"caption\":\"Neelima Kanakamedala, is co-owner of the Code Ninja franchise in Clifton Park. 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