Since January, a dozen students at Westminster Community Charter School have participated in a unique after school coding program created by M&T Bank. Known as the ‘Coders Club,’ the program taught the basics of software development using an interactive app designed around solving puzzles and building characters.

On Tuesday, March 26, the cohort celebrated their final class, showcased their creations to family and friends and received their very own copy of Coding Games in Scratch to continue their learning outside the classroom.

A group of technologists from M&T Bank created the six-week program at Westminster Community Charter School, to increase kids’ confidence in using computer science and to demonstrate how computer science can impact their future careers.  The group aims to expand the program to include more schools over the coming years.

“With a safe space to learn and play, a mentor to inspire and access to technology to be able to explore, create and code, we can increase learning opportunities and empower more students to fulfill their potential,” said Mike Wisler, chief information officer at M&T Bank. “Software development is in greater demand than ever before and every student, in every school, should have an opportunity to learn it as part of the curriculum.”