James Summers introduced Alex Sejdinaj as our program speaker.  Alex is the founder of the new South Bend Code School.  This school is designed to break the barrier between people and technology by teaching teens how to write code, the language of technology.  Alex stated that South Bend is the perfect location, since technology lives here – in the Metro-Net and in over 20 tech-oriented companies that are looking for employees.  There are currently 25 graduates of the South Bend Code School that are now members of the Code Legion.  The Code Legion has morphed into South Bend Code Works, which pairs students with Notre Dame Students and programmers as mentors.  Their goals are to build apps to help the community and create potential jobs with the city and the health system.  Alex explained that the success of the program was due to the development of apps that interested the students and touched their lives.  The students at the Robinson Center developed four impressive apps that targeted violence, an example of which is the Graffiti Funding app, which tags graffiti sites on a map and also the locations of drug dealers and gang violence for the police and the Parks Dept. The Boys & Girls Club students developed two apps to highlight free and safe after-school programs at the Club and one to share videos from other clubs around the world on how to build community.