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Last year founding partner Google opened its first Midwest Code Next Lab at Michigan Central, and the program continues to grow. Code Next Detroit offers a free computer science education program for neighborhood high schoolers, with professional coaches teaching the skills to start careers in technology. 

The program focuses on Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students, and demonstrates the value of collaboration by offering hands-on training with state-of-the-art tech for Detroit teens, from laptops to virtual reality. Students have access to Google mentors and other industry experts, and they drive their own projects, ranging from designing and programming a robot to 3D printing an Android chess set.

“To say I love coming to Code Next is an understatement,” said ninth-grader Israel Muniz. “When I read the initial information before applying, I thought it was too good to be true.”

The program, currently housed at the Factory at Michigan Central, will move into the renovated Michigan Central Station in 2024.

“Our main recruitment goal for the upcoming months is to bring 50 to 60 more students into the program, and we hope to have 100 total students at the beginning of fall,” said Nando Felten, Code Next Detroit’s community manager. 

Applications for fall 2023-24 open July 10 and close August 4. Visit codenext.withgoogle.com for more info.