Red Deer College is offering a chance for school aged kids to take part in a coding course through their Red Hot Science organization, which helps to bring new sciences and technology to the younger generation.

Red Hot Science will receive $70,000 from the youth outreach network Actua ‘s CanCode fund, which is investing $50 million over two years to support initiates providing digital skills development opportunities for youth.

Actua is Canada’s leading science, technology, engineering and mathematics youth outreach network, representing 35 universities and college based members, like Red Hot Science.

Rodney Hold is the Associate Dean of the School of Continuing Education at RDC, and he says this is all about allowing kids to learn new technologies and skills they might not otherwise be exposed to.

“The opportunities for CanCode and our code makers programs, this is to expose kids at no cost, so the grant cover all the fees so any program or workshop we run from this grant is at no cost.`

Hold says this will be the first program of its kind there.

“We`ve had little opportunities here and there, but not an opportunity to develop some real, targeted and directed workshops and camps around coding specifically for young Canadians, for adolescents and teenagers. We are really excited to bring this and create this for Central Alberta.``

Hold hopes this will build momentum that can be used to turn this program into an annual coding camp every summer.

It's open to kid's kindergarten to grade 12, and will be ready by the spring.