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Street Code Academy Gives Students A Glimpse Into World Of Technology

STOCKTON (CBS13) — While some teens are spending their summer in front of the computer or playing video games, a group of students from south Stockton is on the campus of one of the largest companies in the world learning how to design them.

It's all part of Street Code Academy, a program hosted by Facebook, where young people who live in low-income neighborhoods get training in the field of technology.

A group of students from south Stockton has developed a prototype for their new invention.

"This is a little thing, they call the amplifier to produce sound," said 14-year-old Carl Tipon, a student at Edison High School.

It's a speaker designed to help people who are often distracted by their smart phone.

"This device is to help you become more attentive when people are looking down, to look up and it alerts you how many feet you are away from an objective," said Abraham Grayeazoa, 16, program participant.

This is just one of the projects the students from Edison High School have been working on at the Street Code Academy, a program held on the campus of social media giant, Facebook.

"My family members know what I do, but I have and tell my friends, too, but they say 'that's not true, ' but I'm like OK, it's whatever," said Edwin Lynn, 14, Edison High School student.

The teens are learning about creativity, coding and what's it like to one day have their own companies.

"It's not something that day-to-day they have access to, but thankfully here at school, we are trying to figure out how do we bring this back into our communities," said mentor, Jasmine Dellafosse.

The summer internship is more like a pilot program. Mayor Michael Tubbs is working to bring the Street Code Academy to Stockton just as the young designers are getting a lot of buzz.

"Execs at Facebook and at Apple are saying 'wow these Stockton youth are incredibly resilient and creative.' It makes me excited to make sure our young people have the tools they need to be the next designer, coders and company makers," said Tubbs.

The program is wrapping up for the summer and hands down has become one of the favorite experiences to ever happen to these high school students.

"There is no Top 3. This is just the best one ever," said Tipon.

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