Mississippi Coding Academy students prepare for upcoming graduation

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) – A classroom filled with future coders in Biloxi can be found at Mississippi Coding Academy, a place where instructors have one goal in mind — advancing the cyber world.

“Our focus is to give students an opportunity to learn coding and advanced technologies in the way of VR, AR, Artificial Intelligence, web design, and other coding skills,” said Jim St. Clair.

St. Clair is one of the instructors at the academy on the Gulf Coast.

“We have basic guidelines based on High School equivalent to a GED but are negotiable on any of those circumstances, but again, it really gives a chance to those populations that may not be able to enroll in those schools or be faced with high tuition so they could come here in class and learn,” said St. Clair.

During the course, Jim says students are getting a taste of what’s it like dealing with things like cybersecurity— something that workforces like Keesler and other businesses are looking to explore.

He also says while many students will get offers from different states, his goal is to prepare them to stay in Mississippi to help further the cybersecurity field in the future.

“Mississippi State University has a government-funded cybersecurity program that does a lot of research,” said St. Clair. “Keesler Air Force Base is the home to preliminary cybersecurity training for airmen and especially airmen who specialize in cybersecurity and defend the Air Force networks. We are growing our practice area and education program in cyber security.”

“If all our class gets a job offer that takes them to Silicon Valley, New York City, or Seattle then that’s wonderful. But we would love to build this as a workforce that we’re developing and getting opportunities for in Mississippi.”

The graduation will be held this Friday at the Mississippi Aquarium in Gulfport.

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