Knowledge House helps New Jersey teens learn to code

The Knowledge House (TKH) was founded in 2014 in New York to address the education and employment gap in technology, particularly in coding and design for residents of the Bronx, New York. York. A decade later, TKH has expanded to Atlanta, Los Angeles and Newark, New Jersey. Through its Karim Kharbouch Coding Program (KKCF), students currently enrolled in high school as sophomores, juniors, or seniors interested in learning code and design skills are offered the opportunity to participate in the program. Deployment spoke exclusively with Newark resident Fernanda Somohano Ortega, a freshman at New Jersey Institute of Technology majoring in Computer Science, about how TKH has helped her studies.

“Before TKH, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do,” she said. “I was in high school, so I was just starting to understand. But with the KKCF program, they helped me realize that technology was a good option for me, that it was something I could do. »

“The Knowledge House is excited to expand our KKCF program in celebration of our 10th anniversary,” said Jerelyn Rodriguez, co-founder and CEO of TKH. “In this milestone year, we are excited to integrate the foundations of AI across all programs so that all TKH participants become even more competitive for the jobs of tomorrow.

After graduating from high school last year, Ortega is back with TKH, this time through the Innovation Fellowship, a program for those 18 and older. She didn't think she could go to college directly after high school due to financial reasons, but TKH intervened.

“They helped me again,” Ortega says of the scholarship. “They guided me and provided me with technical and professional knowledge that I need to apply or simply enter the technology community.”

Although he is only a freshman, Ortega has lofty goals.

“I would like to get a master’s degree first,” Ortega said. “My goal would be to get a full-time job in a field like cybersecurity. I'm still figuring out what position. I would like to do something in the field of cybersecurity, as that is my major at the Innovation Fellowship. I would like to work preferably in one of the offices of – I wouldn't say Google because it's huge – but in one of the big tech companies in New York and in the cybersecurity field, or maybe work in a startup.

With the help of TKH, a master's degree or a job at Google for Ortega are realistic dreams.

For more information about registering for the KKCF program in Newark, New Jersey, the deadline is May 27. For more information about the Innovation Fellowship or any other programs in Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, or Newark, New Jersey, visit their website or email them [email protected].