Juliet Platoon Update Blog

Juliet Platoon is Code Platoon’s 10th cohort of students, and this is where we’ll track their journey from start to finish, and for some alumni, even beyond!

Juliet Platoon Starts Internships

Monday January 13, 2019 marks the beginning of Juliet Platoon’s internships! Seven of our most recent graduates will embark on their new careers with our corporate sponsors including: DRW, Chicago Trading Company, 8th Light, and Grainger.

The week following graduation, also known as Interview Week, included four to five interviews for each student, allowing them direct access into these companies and an opportunity to learn about the different roles available to them. The Code Platoon team helped students prepare for these interviews through mock interviews, whiteboarding practice, and group interview sessions with industry leaders. Thank you to all of our volunteers who helped our students prepare! 

Over the next three to five months, our newest alumni will extend their learning through full-time paid internships at their host companies. This experience will continue to help our students grow into well rounded software development professionals. 

Join us in wishing them luck in their new professional roles!

Juliet Platoon celebrates graduation

Juliet Platoon, our 10th class, graduated on Friday December 13, 2019 at 2:30pm at JP Morgan Chase. Thirteen students graduated, with 9 students utilizing their VA benefits and 4 students receiving scholarships from Code Platoon. Four of the five branches of service were represented, with 7 Soldiers, 3 Marines, 2 Sailors, and 1 Airman completing our program and embarking on careers in software development.  

Executive Director Rod Levy commented, “All 13 students of Juliet cohort showed great grit and determination over the last 14 weeks, with highlights including innovative personal projects, incredible networking opportunities, and a commitment to ensuring every fellow student, in-person and remote, achieved their greatest amount of success. New for Juliet was the addition of VET TEC, an innovative program offered by The Department of Veteran Affairs that helps more veterans find training opportunities in software development. The addition of VET TEC helped Juliet become our largest class to date.”

Juliet cohort graduates will continue their journeys with paid software development internships and apprenticeships exclusively offered to Code Platoon alumni to further their coding careers. The internships available for Juliet include Chicago Trading Company, DRW, Narrative Science, 8th Light, and Grainger.

Newly minted Code Platoon alumni, Michael Blaha, recounted his time at Code Platoon, “Code Platoon is not only a program that instructs you how to become a software engineer, but it also connects you to a large network of professionals that can guide you into and through the industry. One of the advantages to the Code Platoon environment is that you get to do this while connecting with a family of veterans that are participating with you.”

Thank you to our newest corporate sponsor, JP Morgan Chase, for hosting Code Platoon! Located on the 56th floor of Chase Tower, guests of Code Platoon took in breathtaking views of the city and enjoyed the celebration and reception. In 2020, JP Morgan Chase will host Code Platoon graduates for internships and help provide opportunities for networking in the field. Iggy Khan, a JP Morgan Chase Managing Director and Code Platoon Executive Board Member noted, “It was inspiring to meet the students. Their graduation presentations demonstrated the incredible skill they attained over the past several months of training. I am sure their future employers can’t wait for them to join. I wish each of them the best of luck with their new careers.”

Congratulations, Juliet Platoon!

Javascript React event for Juliet Platoon

At Code Platoon, we think it’s important to expose students early to the fact that they’ll encounter more than one programming language in their careers as developers.

We specifically teach Python and Javascript at Code Platoon. After the first half of the program, where the students focus on Python and the full-stack Django framework, they move on to Javascript and the front-end React framework. As a new software developer, switching between two different computer languages can be difficult, but switching between two different languages AND frameworks simultaneously can be downright mentally debilitating.

However, the students were fortunate to have the guidance and React expertise of Quinn Stephens, a Developer at Table XI, to introduce and teach Javascript’s React framework. Quinn covered the core ethos of React and walked them through the main concepts, Functional and Class based components, State and Props, and the Lifecycle methods to build their first React Application.

After the React workshop, the students were enthusiastically confident in their ability to tackle more complex React concepts like Hooks, a recent addition to React, and refactor their code and future challenges to accommodate Hooks. Now the students have the ability to create a full-stack applications using Django and now, thanks to Quinn Stephens and Table XI, React.

It’s always a delightful feeling seeing students empowered to take on challenges and problems with the tools they learned in the 14 weeks at Code Platoon. Thank you to Quinn Stephens of Table XI for continuing to support Code Platoon and our students.

Juliet Platoon visits Table XI

At Code Platoon, our students are introduced to concepts outside of traditional programming instruction. Our most recent cohort, the student’s of Juliet Platoon, had the pleasure of participating in an Agile training workshop hosted by Mark Yoon, John Newfry, and Gayle Silverman of Table XI. During the workshop, students learned Agile processes and how to structure and deliver a project using Lego bricks. 

First, the students broke off into two teams of four and had to work together to meet the requirements of a project that was requested by their client, John Newfry & Gayle Silverman. Their project? To build a vehicle that can handle the terrain and species of another planet. The workshop’s lead instructor, Mark Yoon, taught the students the Agile process of Iterations and the elements of an Iteration. 

Throughout the workshop the students were tested in asking the right questions, working together, and delivering a successful project to the client. Through each iteration the students learned, evolved their strategy, and accelerated their velocity; successfully meeting the requirements of their client.

The students left the workshop with a better understanding of how to work in teams and with clients, while most notably learning the importance of failing quickly. 

Thank you to Mark Yoon, John Newfry, and Gayle Silverman and the rest of the team at Table XI for continuing to support Code Platoon and our students.

Juliet Platoon starts its coding boot camp journey – 8/29/2019

On August 29, 2019 Code Platoon proudly welcomed 15 new students to our Juliet cohort. The new student reception, hosted by Braintree Payments at Chicago’s famed Merchandise Mart, provided an opportunity for students, staff, volunteers, and alumni to meet each other before class starts. This networking opportunity is just one of many opportunities Juliet students will have as they embark on their training with Code Platoon. 

Juliet cohort is comprised of 10 in-person students and 5 remote students.  Veterans of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force have combined forces to complete our third and final cohort of 2019. These students will begin their software development careers alongside two new instructors, Tom Prete, Marine veteran, and Mike Lee, Navy veteran. 

Mike, who is also a graduate of Code Platoon (Bravo cohort in 2017) is “looking forward to teaching this new group of students and helping them grow into professionals in the technology sector. I am excited to share my experience, both as a student at Code Platoon and professional, to help each student grow to their fullest capacity.” 

Over the course of the program, these students will spend 60-80 hours a week together, participating in lectures and events, completing coding challenges, and learning best practices in Python and AWS, among other skills. They will grow together and culminate their Code Platoon experience with group projects. Group projects are presented at graduation on December 13, 2019.

Join us in welcoming Juliet platoon and wishing them well on their coding journey!