On Saturday, July 21, 45 students received their certificates of completion from the first Coding Boot Camp offered by Penn’s College of Liberal and Professional Studies (LPS). Located in the Pennovation Center, the graduation ceremony was presented by Vice Dean Nora E. Lewis and members of Penn LPS’s Professional and Organizational Development team, who created the 24-week program. Penn LPS Coding Boot Camp is designed to give adult learners in the Philadelphia area from all backgrounds and experience levels a pathway into the tech industry, and some members from the program’s inaugural class have already transitioned into new careers. For example, former gravedigger and farmer Michael McVeigh is now a software developer at 21PSTEM, and Nora Granahan, previously the Director of Annual Giving at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, accepted a job in web development at P'unk Avenue LLC.
The graduation ceremony follows a Project Demo Day held on Thursday, July 19, when Penn LPS Coding Boot Camp participants presented their final projects to the public. Their projects reflected a wide range of personal and professional interests, including social networking and consumer applications as well as a project developed by Alexa Stefanou which reveals the chocolate-to-peanut-butter ratio in Reese’s peanut butter cups.
Penn LPS Coding Boot Camp is offered through Penn’s College of Liberal and Professional Studies in collaboration with Trilogy Education Services. In addition to technical training, participants receive career planning assistance, networking opportunities and hands-on learning activities with employers. With evening and weekend classes that can be taken online or in-person at the Pennovation Center, the part-time program is designed to help working adults in Philadelphia balance personal, professional and academic pursuits.
Read more about Penn LPS Coding Boot Camp at Philly.com >
Read more and view video of Project Demo Day at KYW Newsradio >
