the staff of the Ridgewood blog
MIDLAND PARK NJ, Say the words, “video game” and your kids are bound to stop and listen. The local owners of a new Code Ninjas, a learning center that debuts on Sept. 28 at 85 Godwin Ave., in Midland Park, know that video games aren’t only fun, but educational. Code Ninjas will serve the local area by teaching children computer coding and problem-solving skills while having fun building video games.
In celebration of the new center, there will be a grand opening event held on November 2 from 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Attendees will be provided tours of the facility, gift basket raffles, and a variety of STEM games and activities, such as, Kamigami battle bots, snap circuits, robotics, building blocks, kids coding exercises and indoor drones which will be available to experience.
The Midland Park location is owned and operated by married couple and local residents Bob and Charlotte Lockwood. Since he was 13 years old, Bob was fascinated with computers and taught himself how to program and worked within the IT field for 30 years. Charlotte worked in corporate America for 10 years and has been a certified massage therapist for the past 15 years. The combination of their diverse experience and educational backgrounds led to the decision to open a business of their own. Due to the need for STEM education in their community, they researched how they could encourage children and teens to excel in STEM which led them to Code Ninjas. The Lockwoods loved the curriculum and unique concept and knew it was a perfect fit. This is the first Code Ninjas owned by the Lockwoods with plans to open a second center.
“STEM education is very important and can be extremely impactful for kids,” said Charlotte. “We want our center to be a home away from home for our ninjas where they can build their confidence and self-esteem by seeing their hard work result into something awesome.”
Midland Park children ages 7-14 can look forward to visiting the new Code Ninjas center to learn how to code in a fun, safe, and social learning environment where coding is celebrated, and STEM is cool. Everything about Code Ninjas is built around fun, which keeps kids coming back. But the center also provides the results that parents are looking for, as their children gain coding and problem-solving skills they’ll need for the jobs of the future.
“The process of creation is important for kids,” said Bob. “We’re excited to give children in our community the opportunity to not only learn and create through STEM education, but find a passion for it as well.”
Code Ninjas accomplishes this with a robust, game-based curriculum made up of nine belts, just like martial arts. The curriculum is self-paced, but not self-taught; kids get immediate help and encouragement from Code Senseis and fellow students as they advance from white to black belt. The program keeps kids motivated with little wins along the way, and “Belt-Up” celebrations where they receive color-coded wristbands to mark their graduation to the next level. By the time a child finishes the program, they will publish an app in an app store.
Code Ninjas offers a variety of opportunities for children to get involved, including a flexible weekday drop-in program, camps and Parents Night Out events on weekends.
Code Ninjas founder and CEO David Graham is a professional software developer who previously owned a successful chain of coding camps for adults. After numerous inquiries from parents, Graham realized there was an unmet demand to teach children coding skills. He launched the Code Ninjas brand in 2016.
For more information about the Midland Park Code Ninjas location, please visit codeninjas.com or call 862-414-4642.
