Behind every webpage, e-mail, and smartphone app is a programmer who made it happen. In today’s digitally connected world, the push to innovate is stronger than ever before. At Codeup, a San Antonio learning center offering web development boot camps, Hannah Westberg ’14 and Jenni White ’14 are building an educational experience that prepares students for employment in programming or software development.
As director of student success, Westberg connects Codeup graduates with opportunities in the community and conducts outreach to potential employers. White, as director of student experience, is responsible for people and product management and oversees Codeup’s team of instructors. Although they are now no strangers to the programming world, both knew little about coding when they were hired. Following a steep learning curve, including enrollment in a Codeup boot camp, both are fully invested in the Codeup mission of cultivating a skilled tech workforce.
“Most students at Codeup are career changers, and what we are doing for people is empowering them to make that change in an effective way,” Westberg says.
Westberg, a communication and anthropology double major from Overland Park, Kan., says the majority of Codeup students are from Texas, with a large percentage from San Antonio itself. She is excited that many graduates choose to stay in the city and energize local businesses with their newly honed skills. CodeUp is regulated by the Texas Workforce Commission as a career school and college.
The average age of a Codeup student is 28. Additionally, 50 percent of students are minorities and 25 percent are women. Since its inception, the startup has designated two scholarships for women, a necessity according to White, who cites the male-dominated tech field as evidence. White, an international studies major from Albuquerque, conducts one-on-one meetings with students to discuss their progress in the boot camp and any concerns they might need to address.
“Students come in as a certain person and, after 16 weeks in our boot camps, they exit with a whole new set of knowledge,” White says. “Easing the struggles and hearing the victories of students along the way is really fulfilling.”
In the full stack boot camps, students learn both front-end and back-end web development. It turns “non-techies” into entry-level web and software developers. If graduates do not find work, half of their tuition is returned. Since beginning at Codeup, Westberg and White say they have been honored to help develop the programming and personality of the company. Both say that it has been a joy to be part of a small, close-knit team.
One skill that each woman has learned is the ability to delegate effectively, prioritizing time and responsibilities to get things done. The duo organizes Demo Days, where students present their capstone projects to a room full of potential employers at the end of their boot camps. Both have seen an increased quality in every consecutive Demo Day they produce.
“It has been really cool to see what Demo Day has become for us,” White says. “Neither Hannah nor I would have been successful at these jobs without the problem solving, critical thinking, and communication skills that we learned at Trinity.”
Recently, Codeup moved locations into The Vogue Building; White managed this transition, including a collaboration with an interior designer to craft a custom office space on the building’s third floor. Although it was just a “hop, skip, and a jump” down Navarro Street, White says it was equally challenging and satisfying working on a real-world project with physical constraints in the midst of the tech world.
As Codeup continues to grow and build on its 93 percent placement rate, within six months of graduation, Westberg and White continue to be in awe of what students have achieved with a Codeup diploma. Looking to the future, they say that working at Codeup has taught them how tech can be applied to any industry and any problem. Harkening back to the interdisciplinary connections they made at Trinity, Westberg and White are now able to “see connections across all facets of their business,” from the students whom they serve to the technology that is taught.
You might be interested in
