Computer coding club flourishes at Tenn. school

JACKSON, Tenn. -- What started as a club has evolved into a classroom that will be at its maximum when classes begin in the fall at Madison Academic High School here.

"I wanted to be a graphic designer, and Ms. DeLoach pushed me," Alyssa Gowan said. "But I really enjoy Treehouse, and I plan on coding now and look to pursue a career."

Treehouse is a web-based company that teaches students how to build a website, learn code, build an application or start a business.

The CO:de Academy at Madison is an extracurricular activity in which students learn various aspects of computer programming, including website design and development, mobile app development and database programming.

Vicki DeLoach teaches computer classes at Madison where Gowan, 13, is a freshman.

"We're going to form a web design class in the fall, and it's full," DeLoach said. "It hit capacity immediately."

Gowan was one of 15 students in attendance at the Jackson Chamber on Wednesday when the regional implementation of the CO:de Academy was discussed by area leaders and Treehouse.

Gowan is also one of six students who earned an all-expenses paid trip to San Francisco for her efforts on Treehouse, producing the most "badges," with 281.

"A badge is a reward for completing a stage," Gowan said. "All kind of things … friends, business logos, HTML or building a simple website."

Gowan and classmates Steven Prescott, Ashkan Neshagaran and Austin Sun will join DeLoach and Liberty Tech students Ryan Butler and Kerry Reid on the trip, which includes a tour of Google and Stanford University.

Jackson businessmen Ben Ferguson and William Donnell helped spur the project with the idea of improving technology education in West Tennessee.

Ferguson, the president of Personnel Placements, first learned of Treehouse software while attending the Southland conference in Nashville, and joined forces with Donnell of Sodium Halogen to form a partnership with the school system, business community and Treehouse that resulted in the CO:de Academy.

Ferguson said he and Curtis Gillespie, the career and technology director of the Jackson-Madison County school system, had previously met on other technical education ideas.

"I contacted Curtis to see if it would be possible to insert the Treehouse curriculum into the [career technology education] framework," Ferguson said. "He took care of the all the logistics of connecting students and teachers to Treehouse through clubs and classes at the participating high schools."

Ferguson said the real impact of this year's program culminated with a room full of regional business, community and educational leaders at the Chamber committing to build a hub of talented programmers in West Tennessee.

"If that vision is realized, West Tennessee's economy will be positioned to flourish in the years to come," Ferguson said.

Donnell, who will be with the contingent headed for San Francisco, can sense the importance of what is evolving in Jackson and West Tennessee.

"Someone will have to write code," Donnell said. "Treehouse is a website for all things … design, develop, apps for phones or tablets, find a job or create a job in technology."

Donnell said that with every phase of our lives connected to technology, code will be needed for a thermostat in the home to talk to a car and a car to an iPhone.

"The neat thing is several of the (students) going on the trip are freshman and sophomores," Donnell said. "We want them to go out to San Francisco, breathe the air of Silicon Valley and bring the excitement back to Jackson."

Kristen Badal of Treehouse arrived from New York for the meeting and leaves impressed with what she witnessed from the Jackson students.

"Kids today grow up with technology and they have enjoyed an incredible amount of success in an incredible amount of time," Badal said. "That's the advantage of Treehouse … to catch up and excel."