Techy Parents Use Video Games To Spur Learning In Hillsborough

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Tech-savvy Montgomery parents Marisa and Kanwar Narula are opening Somerset County’s first Code Ninjas location in Hillsborough. The center allows children to have fun building video games while learning coding, math, logic and problem solving.

The Hillsborough location at 649 Route 206 North, Suite 1C will open in June and will be situated in the same complex as Sweetberry Bowls, Starbucks and Chipotle. The couple is also planning to open a second location in Bridgewater next year.

Opening Code Ninjas was a no-brainer for Marisa and Kanwar Narula who have an extensive background in Information Technology and are parents to two boys Joshua who is 8 and Jai who is 13.

"My boys have always been interested in video games and I would ask them to get off of the video games all the time until I saw an opportunity," Marisa said. "I have a 20 year background in IT recruiting so I had an idea of how the job market is doing. I really saw a deficit for Americans having these IT skills. It is really important for our country to educate our children in IT, so that we can fill these jobs."

With Code Ninjas it offers children an opportunity to start learning about the IT field at a young age.

"Right now only about 30 percent of schools have computer science or coding classes," Marisa said. "And if they do, it doesn’t start until the kids are in high school."

Additionally, Marisa noted how 74 percent of girls are interested in computer science in middle school but by the time they graduate the number drops drastically.

At Code Ninjas students can enroll anywhere from ages 7 to 14, which will grab their interests early. And it is open to boys, girls and special needs.

The center is karate-themed and kids start with a white belt and can learn different technology coding along the way such as Java or Unity, which will earn them higher karate belts. By the time they hit black belt those kids can have games ready to sell on apps, Marisa said.

The center called a Dojo and teachers called Sensei to help keep the theme going.

"The kids don’t even realize they are learning and gaining fabulous skills that otherwise they would have to wait until high school to learn," Marisa said.

To learn more about Code Ninjas visit codeninjas.com/locations/nj-hillsborough or Facebook.

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