Community Heroes - “Base Camp Coding Academy” with Corey Mize

Shownotes:

In this episode, Eddie talks to Corey Mize, Executive Director of Base Camp Coding Academy in Water Valley, Mississippi. Base Camp Coding Academy offers high school graduates training in software development for 12 months, providing them with resources like computers and gas money for their commutes. The program also equips students with professional skills such as resume writing, email etiquette, and interviewing.

Before joining Base Camp, Mize worked as a computer scientist and program manager with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, Mississippi. She’s passionate about shaping young leaders in the computer science field because she’s seen firsthand the lack of access that students in Mississippi have to computer science and programming. She talks to Eddie about what it looks like to create a flourishing environment for students and how our communities can better support students from all different backgrounds.

Series Info:

Sometimes we need to be reminded of the human hope in our communities and in our world. Shining a light on hope, truth, and goodness allows us to both receive and spread the good news that God is at work in our midst. In this series, we will highlight a set of individuals who are doing great work in our community. These passionate leaders strengthen mind, body, and spirit through their non-profit organizations that provide access and resources to those in need. We encourage you to share these episodes with a friend and spread the word about the opportunities these leaders offer!

Resources:

Learn more about Base Camp Coding Academy here:

https://basecampcodingacademy.org 

Apply to Base Camp Coding Academy here

Know a high school student who would be a great fit for this program? Fill out a Student Nomination form here

Full Transcript:

Eddie Rester 0:00

This is Edie Rester, and welcome to The Weight. Chris McAlilly is out today, so he abandoned me to have a great conversation with Cory Mize today. Corey Mize is the executive director of the Base Camp Coding Academy in Water Valley, Mississippi. In this series of podcasts right now, we're highlighting some people who are doing just world changing work who are involved in local communities involved in work around the world. And we want you to get to know them. Some people who are doing things that maybe you are aware of, or maybe aren't aware of, so that you can celebrate what what's happening. And maybe it piques your interest to lead you to do something or to start something or to get involved in something as well.

Eddie Rester 0:50

Cory Mize is one who is leading something in our state that I think is significant. Base Camp is a coding academy that takes students out of high school, the year after high school, and trains them to code and program, and she's going to talk about what that means and what they do. She's going to talk--and this is what I think is important--what their metric of success is. And really for me, as I listened to her and what I've known about what they do, they really want to move the needle for students, communities, and ultimately the entire state of Mississippi, and the exciting thing is that they're doing it.

Eddie Rester 1:34

And so I think when you hear her talk about her work and the work of Base Camp today, you're gonna get excited about what they're up to. You're gonna get excited about maybe the possibilities for small local communities, like the place I grew up, a small community I grew up in. So she's going to share that with us. And I hope that after you listen today, share this with somebody. Let's get the conversation going. I think that's what she really wants us to do is get the conversation going about possibilities for students, maybe who don't have the ability to go to a four-year college or even a two-year community college. How can we provide, what is a path to work in life for them? So enjoy the podcast today.

Chris McAlilly 2:21

[INTRO] We started this podcast out of frustration with the tone of American Christianity.

Eddie Rester 2:29

There are some topics too heavy for sermons and sound bites.

Chris McAlilly 2:32

We wanted to create a space with a bit more recognition of the difficulty, nuance, and complexity of cultural issues.

Eddie Rester 2:39

If you've given up on the church, we want to give you a place to encounter a fresh perspective on the wisdom of the Christian tradition in our conversations about politics, race, sexuality, art, and mental health.

Chris McAlilly 2:52

If you're a Christian seeking a better way to talk about the important issues of the day, with more humility, charity, and intellectual honesty, that grapples with scripture and the church's tradition in a way that doesn't dismiss people out of hand, you're in the right place.

Eddie Rester 3:07

Welcome to The Weight. [END INTRO]

Eddie Rester 3:09

Well, we're here today with Corey Mies who is the executive director of Base Camp Coding Academy. Thanks for spending some time with us today.

Corey Mize 3:19

Yeah, no problem. It's great to be here.

Eddie Rester 3:21

So we considered, we've looked at different groups around our area that are doing just some amazing things. Base Camp is one of these groups that maybe people haven't heard about here in Mississippi, but is doing something I think is pretty incredible. So tell us a little bit about Base Camp Coding Academy. What is it?

Corey Mize 3:43

Yeah, so we like to say that Base Camp is high tech vo-tech. So the idea behind Base Camp is that it's a year long program for students who have just graduated from high school. And during that year, we train them to be software developers, to enter the workforce. And, you know, we're, it's completely tuition free. We provide gas cards for your commute from wherever you live. And we provide you with lunch every day. We provide you with a computer and any other resources you need to do your work and try to make it as accessible as possible. And so it's basically a free way for you to get into the software development career field, that there is a huge gap in talent in Mississippi where companies that need that type of employee, there aren't enough students graduating from college with that degree. And so this is another pathway for students to get into that career field in a much quicker way. And so that's the idea behind Base Camp and what you would actually do here.

Eddie Rester 4:42

I was reading that every year Mississippi has about 1200 unfilled computing jobs and only 200 graduates. That's a stunning disparity.

Corey Mize 4:52

Yes, and I fully believe that that gap will only continue to widen as we try to attract more tech companies to this area. And, you know, the struggle for most tech companies is that the major talent, the pools that you pull from, aren't in Mississippi, and it's difficult to attract them here. So, Base Camp, again, the idea behind it was let's home, grow the talent and tap into the great young people that we have here and give them an opportunity for a very lucrative and great career field that they may not know they have access to here, and that they can do here. Especially, you know, now that remote is so much more prevalent after COVID. I think there's just limitless opportunities for students in Mississippi to get into this career field, and try to fill that gap.

Eddie Rester 5:49

For folks who may not be familiar with the programming or coding, when I grew up, having a little Apple computer and I learned Basic, you know, go to or, you know, whatever we used to type in and it did stuff. What all is encapsulated in what y'all are teaching? Help someone understand how far reaching this really is that you're offering.

Corey Mize 6:13

Yeah, so, you know, some people might think of like medical coding or something like that, if they hear the word "coding." When we say "coding" or "programming," we're talking about people who use computers to write software products. So you know, the apps on your phone, social media apps or other apps that you use, you know, Word or PowerPoint or Excel, even the websites that you visit online, right, those are all programmed and created using code. And what we train our students to do is to be full stack web developers. So they could create from top to bottom, an entire website for somebody if they wanted to.

Corey Mize 6:54

They also learn a little bit of some other types of languages that would allow them to create desktop applications. So they learn things like Java and Python that would allow them to do more scripting type of things, some smaller programming projects. But typically, what they're looking for when they look for jobs is some sort of website development, app development, software development type of position. So those are the kinds of things that we're training the students to be able to create.

Eddie Rester 7:24

So let's back up one step. How did how did Base Camp get started? I know the co-founders, Glen Evans and Kagan Coughlin, were behind this, but what was, I mean, how did they dream it up? And it's in Water Valley, not in a major tech hub or city in Mississippi. How did all this come together?

Corey Mize 7:43

Yeah, so Kagan and Glen were employees at FNC at the time in Oxford. It's now CoreLogic. And they were struggling to find talent, just like most companies in Mississippi are. And they thought, you know, okay, we have this great pool of talent of young people in Mississippi, and we're struggling to find people to fill these positions. What can we do to kind of fix that problem? So they came up with this idea of a streamlined program that gets students into the pipeline faster, and gives students that otherwise wouldn't have had probably as good of an opportunity to create a good career for themselves an opportunity in the software development industry. And it's in Water Valley because, at the time, that's where Kagan owned some property that he could use to host the Base Camp students.

Corey Mize 8:31

And we, you know, they planted there and stayed here. And I love this community. And I love that we're here in this small little town, because it's just a testament to the fact that you can literally do this job anywhere. And it doesn't matter. As long as you have a good computer and good access to the internet, you can do this job wherever you're at. So that's kind of how it came about.

Corey Mize 8:54

And so they set out to find sponsors and find corporate partners who could invest in this and who believed in this vision, and who were willing to take a chance on this type of student, right, because a lot of companies still are stuck in the model of you have to have a bachelor's degree to get an entry-level job. And so they had to find sponsors who not only were willing to fund this opportunity for students, but also willing to potentially hire them. And so that's how CSpire got involved, and Renasant Bank and Morgan and White Group, along with CoreLogic, who are forming sponsors. And they've been great advocates for the program, great advocates for us and make this possible for the students. And that's kind of how it got started. They would probably know a little bit more of the details. But that's the basic overview.

Eddie Rester 9:41

I want to talk about some of y'all's partners in a little bit because I know Facebook has come on board as one of your partners. I want to get to that in just a minute. But let's talk a little bit about the students. Who makes up your student body? How many are there? Where do they come from? Is it just the... You know, when you think of a programmer sometime you think about some guy that's stuck in their parents' basement in front of a computer. You know, that's the... And Cody, who's sitting here with me, is actually pointing at me and laughing right now. He's like, "The you, Eddie." So who's your student who comes to Base Camp Academy?

Corey Mize 10:17

Yeah, so we try to focus recruitment all over North Mississippi, but really all over the state. So we try to recruit within commuting distance, obviously, to make it easier for the students to come. But anyone who lives in the state is welcome to apply to Base Camp if they have the ability to relocate. And we're looking at every school around us, and we don't look at GPA. We don't look at test scores. We don't look at anything like that, that a traditional college looks at for taking in students. We are looking for students who are motivated to work, who want to work hard, who want to learn, who want to show up every day and work hard.

Corey Mize 10:55

You know, and we have a great variety of students, and we want to continue to grow that variety. You know, we have male, female, Black, white, Hispanic, it doesn't matter. We're looking for students who want to work hard. And the great thing about Base Camp is we've designed the curriculum so that you don't have to have any prior knowledge of programming or coding to be successful in this program. And we have several students in our current cohort that had never touched code before, and they're doing phenomenal and are about to graduate in August.

Eddie Rester 11:26

That goes against the grain in my mind, you know. It seems like you'd want a kid who had at least grown up a little computer savvy, maybe dabbled in some programming, but I mean, no, there's no history necessary. No experience necessary in that.

Corey Mize 11:44

Correct. Yeah, I mean, we do get students, right, because they're passionate about it. So they've seen it before and they look it up and they've tried it. So we do get students that have experience. But we've designed Base Camp to be available to students who have never touched it before. So everyone starts at ground zero, and starts at the same place, so you don't have to have that experience to be successful at Base Camp.

Eddie Rester 12:06

So what is a typical day? It lasts, I think, 11 months, almost a full year. But what's a typical day or week look like for your students?

Corey Mize 12:17

Yeah, so they come in at 8:30 every day, and they're here till 4:30. So we try to create like more of a work-like environment rather than school environment. So they come in, they'll do some technical work. They're working on different exercises or projects or they're doing benchmarks or they're working with their team, if they're on a team project, on whatever it is that they're doing. It's a lot of hands-on work. There's not a whole lot of like sitting in lectures or even watching videos necessarily. You're not doing homework. You're not doing flashcards. You're doing actual real-world application projects to learn the code.

Corey Mize 12:55

And then there's also a time every day where you spend some time doing what we call community and professionalism. So it's time where they're doing team building activities that are not code-related to kind of get to know each other, or they're working on some sort of professionalism aspect that our great director Nate handles. So that can look like anything from building a resume to doing practice interviews, learning how to handle conflict in the workplace, how to write a professional email, basically how to be a human in the workplace is what we call it. So there is a little bit of time each day that's devoted to that. And then you'll have some additional technical time in the afternoon as well to continue working on whatever project you're working on at that time.

Corey Mize 13:37

We have some, you know, breaks built in throughout the day. There's also a reading time, built in right before lunch, where you'd have to read something that's printed to kind of give your brain a break from looking at a screen all day. And then we have the lunchtime every day that we feed the students lunch. And that's what a typical day looks like. Sometimes there's a guest speaker thrown in there. Sometimes we go on a field trip to visit a certain sponsor or company. But that's what a typical day would look like.

Eddie Rester 14:03

And at the end of those months that y'all've had the students, how do you gauge success for Base Camp?

Corey Mize 14:11

So to us, success looks like students who get jobs. We don't guarantee employment. You know, that's on the student to do well in the interview and to get their job, but we do everything in our power to make it possible for the student to find and land great jobs. That's why we do so much professionalism preparation as well. So, you know, we have benchmarks and we have, you know, technical stop points throughout the year that we evaluate where the student is at, whether or not we feel like they can continue technically to meet the expectations that we have. But at the end of the year, I mean, the only measure of success we really use is whether or not a student got a job. And we've been super lucky so far that every graduating class 90 to 95% do graduate with an offer in hand. So that's been really great. And we want to continue that success and continue to increase that to 100%. Hopefully one day.

Eddie Rester 15:04

Tthat's a pretty amazing percentage of kids that have a job offer in hand.

Corey Mize 15:11

Yeah.

Eddie Rester 15:12

I have two kids in college this fall. So I'm hopeful that one day they get that job. So tell us about your connection. You are obviously very passionate about the work of Base Camp. How did you get connected? Why are you so passionate about it?

Corey Mize 15:31

So, I am actually from Mississippi. I graduated from Lafayette High School in Oxford. And I didn't have any exposure to coding at all until I was in college. And I took a entry level computer science class my freshman year because I had to, for some sort of elective, I can't remember what it was. I had no exposure. And so I went on, and I got my computer science degree. And I went and worked for the Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, Mississippi, as a computer scientist, for a couple of years.

Corey Mize 16:03

And throughout that time, I, you know, I had switched majors to computer science, because I saw this gap in Mississippi where students just didn't have any access. I mean, I worked with a 21-year-old mechanical engineering major at an internship I did, who didn't know how to use Excel. And I was shocked at the lack of knowledge that he had, and realized that there was a big gap in Mississippi students. And so I kind of had this passion the whole time I was getting my degree of, okay, how can I make this more accessible in my state for people who were like me in high school and middle school who didn't know anything about it.

Corey Mize 16:37

And so I volunteered a lot, I did lots of afterschool activities. I volunteer a lot with CS for MS, which is an initiative now that's helping put computer science classes into K through 12 schools. And because of that, I heard about Base Camp and knew what they were doing. And so last year, I applied for the executive director position, and I started in September and have loved it ever since. It's great to get to go out to schools and meet students and convince them that this is an option for them and get them to come to Base Camp, and then also help them find jobs while they're here. Those are kind of my two main main jobs here at Base Camp.

Corey Mize 17:13

And then right now, while we have our big overlapping classes, I'm also doing a lot of helping in the classroom and instruction and stuff. And so it's just, it's a really great job where I get to really connect with the students and get to know them and help them in their paths and their journeys and give them an opportunity that I really wish I'd had when I was their age.

Eddie Rester 17:32

You get to see things move. You get to see the needle move for the students and their families. I was reading an article about Base Camp, and it said, some of the students who go out and get jobs make more in their first year as a 19- or 20-year-old than their parents made, or are currently making. And that's the kind of shift in families that really begins to change things long term. What are some of y'all's success stories? Are there any of those students that y'all talk about or, you know, that really, their experience through Base Camp has meant a lot to you?

Corey Mize 18:13

Yeah, so there are a couple. And I was not a part of these students' journeys in particular, but there's some great, great stories that I love to share. So one student, who was in the very first class of Base Camp, was one of six, living with his single mother. And he got a job at CSpire when he graduated, and recently bought his mother a house because of the job that he has. And so it was just, it's amazing to hear his story. If you ever look up some of our promotional videos, online, he's featured in a lot of them talking about how much it's impacted him, and how much he has benefited from the experience.

Corey Mize 18:53

There's another student that I've heard about who was basically homeless while they were going through Base Camp, and had some other personal issues with substance abuse and things like that, and was able to pull themselves out of that and get a great job in spite of those negative circumstances, and is still at that job currently. And so I love hearing stories like that, where students just pull themselves out of bad situations through a program like this, through this opportunity.

Eddie Rester 19:26

Again, it just points back to providing opportunity. And I think in my mind, that's one of the things that y'all are doing. Y'all are providing this opportunity. I think I heard Mike Evans say in one of those videos is that "We try to open the door, but we can't make them walk through it. But our job is to simply open the door for these students."

Corey Mize 19:53

Yep.

Eddie Rester 19:54

As we think about just the computer science, the programming, what are some of the barriers in--you talk about, you know, the coding in Mississippi group or the computer science in Mississippi group that you're a part of--what are some of the barriers in Mississippi to really opening this up? Because I really sense that this is going to be a lot of the future. Amazon coming into North Mississippi, they're gonna need programmers for all sorts of inventory controlling things. You've got tech groups here in Oxford, Mississippi, but what are some of our maybe self-imposed barriers that you see?

Corey Mize 20:34

So I think there's a big mental barrier for a lot of students of just being able to see themselves in this job, right? There's not a lot of people in their lives, if any, that do something like this. And so it's hard for anyone to picture themselves doing something they have never seen anyone around them do. And so having those good examples and representations of someone who, you know, came from their situation, looks like them, you know, can relate to them in some way that can show them that this is an option for them. And it's a real tangible option.

Corey Mize 21:08

There are a lot of students tell us, like, "I didn't believe was real, when I first heard about this." So, I think the biggest barriers for us are educating students, teachers, parents, administrators, coaches, community leaders, that this is not only a viable option for Mississippi students, but a really lucrative one. And a way to keep them here, keep them at home doing great work, keep them in Mississippi and making a great living for themselves.

Corey Mize 21:38

And then also just getting the word out in general. We have a certain number of scholarship slots that we can afford to give out every year, and we have never filled them all. Because we cannot get enough traction in all the schools that we recruit with to get enough applicants to fill them all. And so that's something that I'm working on in my position to try to improve on. But every year, you know, we get a little bit more every year that start with us, and a few more, and a few more. And so I'm just hoping that eventually the need or the the word will spread so far and wide that we have to turn away people because we have no more slots available. And that's my goal.

Eddie Rester 22:19

You know, Base Camp has expanded, you know, you talk about Water Valley, Mississippi. My wife's roots are in Water Valley. We still own a house in Water Valley as a matter of fact, a great small town--3,000, 4,000 people. And I always remember that there was this huge factory. I don't even know what it used to make years ago. Big, huge, white structure, as you head to downtown, abandoned for forever. And y'all have taken this huge, old factory, renovated it. But Base Camp has become part of something bigger called Everest now. So, talk about that growth and that expansion and what Everest is.

Corey Mize 23:08

Yeah, so it used to be a garment factory. So a lot of members of the community in the surrounding area used to work here 30 years ago before it shut down. And they made blue jeans. So it's a really great, huge space that was abandoned for a long, long time. And Kagan and Glen and the board, were able to get grants put together and sponsors put together to turn this building into something that you could actually use again. And so Base Camp got one fourth of the building for itself. So we have about 15,000 square feet that we get to have just for Base Camp.

Corey Mize 23:46

And the idea behind Everest is that it's this concept of helping you grow your career from the ground up. So Everest is the mountain that you're climbing to get towards the career and the life that you want. And Base Camp, obviously, is at the bottom of that. So it's the initial training that you need to kind of kick that off. And then Northwest has a wing in Base Camp, as well. And they do a lot of, you know, training and new career opportunities and things like that, that they're doing and they're wing of it. So it's the same kind of idea. It's new training for a new career that gets you started on your climb of your own career mountain.

Corey Mize 24:25

And then in the back half, the back 30,000 feet, the hope is that eventually, some sort of industry could live there, right? Whether it's a call center, a data center, something that needs something that needs a lot of space for a lot of people to be there. You know, fill it up with cubicles, find your training space for an another type of development, career development that might need training space of that size. But it's just a really nicely renovated big space that is full of possibilities.

Corey Mize 24:55

And we love being in Everest. We were able to actually come in person during the pandemic, because we had enough space to spread out and be socially distanced because of the large space that we had. And now our new cohort of students just started this week. And we have an overlap with the previous group of students until August. And we wouldn't have been able to do that in our old space. So the fact that we have enough room to do that now is just incredible. And we're super grateful that they were able to put that together. And would love, hopefully, eventually, to open it up so people can come and tour. That's hopefully on the horizon, but.

Eddie Rester 25:34

You just think about the transformation. So many, my hometown, small town used to have three or four factories--a garment factory, glove factory, furniture factory--in it. And when I drive through my hometown, all these empty spaces, and people wish so much that the old factories would return or something along those lines would return. But what's encouraging to me is that y'all are forging forward in helping reshape even a community's perception of itself and what can be moving forward. What's your relationship with city leadership and just the citizens of Water Valley? Are they ambivalent towards it, excited about it? How did they perceive Everest and Base Camp?

Corey Mize 26:24

So I know that Kagan has great relationships with particularly people in the city leadership. Every person and every company and business in Water Valley that I've worked with is super supportive of what we're doing. They love seeing the students here. They love helping us with different things. I mean, we get gas cards from the local Sprint Mart, and they're always happy to help us get that taken care of. You know, we get pizza from Hometown Pizza in downtown every Friday, and they are always great and happy to take our order and help us in any way that they can. And then the BTC Grocery, obviously, that we used to be located above, we have great relationships with them.

Corey Mize 27:03

I haven't come into contact with anyone in the community that has anything negative to say about us being here. And the support and love that we feel from them is great. And again, hope we can open our doors up soon for them to all come and experience this with us. But yeah, the reception has been great. And I could see that, right, like you were talking about. There are so many rural towns that have old factories that are abandoned and doing nothing for their community that could be retooled to do something like this, create another training facility, whether it's for programming or something else. It's space, prime real estate, that large companies I'm sure could utilize, especially at the much cheaper rate you can get that for here in Mississippi.

Eddie Rester 27:42

Actually, I'm sure with tax rebates and different things that a lot of those spaces could be had for. yeah, real cheap. Just to get people back in those communities, because so many of our small communities in our state, people are moving out, young people aren't sticking around. And I know Water Valley for a long time, has had a vision of how do we maintain our sense of space and people and community and I could probably do a commercial for Water Valley. I'm a big supporter of what they've done through all the years.

Eddie Rester 28:22

One of the things I know that y'all have utilized well are partnerships. And some of that came from Mike and Kegan's work with FNC. But how have y'all continue to identify and utilize partnerships and who were maybe some of those, you mentioned some of them earlier, but who are maybe some of the surprising partnerships?

Corey Mize 28:42

Yeah, so it's just been connections that different people have who support Base Camp. And Kegan and Glenn do a great job of reaching out to people and making connections on our behalf. You know, Facebook was one you mentioned earlier. They have supported us in the past. I mentioned our four yearly sponsors that have continued to support us year-in and year-out, which are CoreLogic, CSpire, Morgan and White Group, and Renasant Bank.

Corey Mize 29:08

But we've had great different philanthropists that have come through and just made donations. The Tuohy Foundation actually supports us every year and provides some funding for us to take the students on a shopping trip so they can buy professional clothing. So they're a great partner. We are constantly working and talking with other companies. We have a great person who lives here in Water Valley that used to work for Airbnb who's helped us make some connections. So there's lots of just great networking that happens within all of our different communities that helps us reach out to different companies, and again, help prove that this model works and that it's worth investing in. And it's been great to find those, even surprising ones, like you said, that are willing to sponsor us, whether it's financially or with their time. There are some companies that--one does mentors, right. We have mentors for all of our students and companies let their employees make time to mentor our students every other week. So even at that level, it's been great to have the support of those different companies in all different ways.

Eddie Rester 30:16

Have any other communities or folks come in and talked to y'all about replicating what y'all are doing in other states or other communities? The model works, I mean, you'll have enough time, history and what's happened there, that obviously the model works. So have other folks come in and said, hey, how can we do this in our community or our their state?

Corey Mize 30:41

Yeah, so there have been a couple of different groups that have come and asked just for advice. And Base Camp has freely shared the curriculum and ideas and what they think works and doesn't work. There have been a couple of other academies in Mississippi that have started as a result of that. So there's the Mississippi Coding Academy in Jackson, that started up as a result. We're not necessarily connected any way, but they did kind of pull from this model to begin with. And then there's also one in Vicksburg, I believe that has started up since then. And then there is a group, I believe the name of the company is called Guardian. But they are a credit union in Alabama that is very interested in doing something similar. And I've spoken with them a few times and shared our best practices and things like that. So that's all that I know of, again, there may have been more that have reached out over the years before I started.

Corey Mize 31:33

But, yeah, there's definitely been some people that have reached out and talked about replicating this model. I know that we would all be happy to help in any way that we can to see it replicated in other places. We had a group from South Carolina that's doing something similar reach out last week, actually. And we talked about, you know, swapping war stories and best practices and ways to engage the community and then also the government of our states in different ways to make this continue to expand them and even more accessible for people.

Eddie Rester 32:06

Think about, again, the gap between how many jobs are available per year--twelve hundred--how many graduates we have--around 200. Just, and y'all are graduating anywhere from 20 to 30 a year. Is that about right?

Corey Mize 32:23

Well, I wish that was the case. So we get anywhere from 20 to 30 that start with us every year, and we graduate right now between 10 and 15. This year will be our biggest graduating class at 17. Again, it's just getting the word out and then keeping the students around. Some of them leave for personal reasons. Some of them unfortunately, you know, they don't have good, reliable transportation. So their car breaks down, they can't come to class anymore, and they get too far behind. Or their family only has one vehicle and they no longer can get access to it. And then some students we do have to remove for technical reasons. So it's not just you get in and you're guaranteed to make it through.

Eddie Rester 33:04

Right.

Corey Mize 33:04

We do set certain standards and expectations for each student that they have to meet and reach so that when they graduate, they can actually go get that job and do the job and feel confident in their abilities. We don't want to put anyone in a situation where they are graduating and can't find a job because they don't actually have the skills that were advertised.

Eddie Rester 33:23

And that's part of the workforce, as well. You'll get hired if you have the skills. You'll continue to get promoted if you have those skills and grow your skills. That's part of the training, the full training that I see that y'all are doing.

Eddie Rester 33:36

I want to loop back to something that you mentioned very early on, kind of the difference between the technical training that y'all are doing, versus... Not versus. That might not be the right way to put it. But the model of the university education, computer science graduate who comes out. How do the two work hand-in-hand? Obviously you're a computer science major, maybe what's the difference in the two tracks?

Corey Mize 34:09

Yeah, so I mean, I obviously, I went the traditional route and got a degree and even got a master's degree, so definitely not knocking that route. You know, for Base Camp it was more the idea of okay, how can we get students who have the ability to succeed in the field, but maybe don't have the resources to go to college? So you know, we're looking for students who don't have the financial resources, or maybe don't have the grades to make it into college, but they can do this job. This is one of those career fields where you could even be self taught and be really good and be skilled enough to do a job in this field. So it's this type of industry that lends itself to this model.

Corey Mize 34:55

You know, there are lots of different jobs where you really do need that four year degree to be successful in the career field. But this is not one of them. It's definitely a route that you can take. But, you know, what you might see as a comparison is we're doing a lot of very work-like work at Base Camp. So it's lots of group projects, lots of practical application of what you're learning. You're not doing a lot of theory. You're not doing a lot of busy work or things that you're just worried about getting a grade for, right. There's not a whole lot of grading at all at Base Camp. It's practical learning where you're learning how to use something and then proving to us that you can do it through some sort of project. And that's how we're assessing your skill. And so it's, it feels more like a work environment.

Corey Mize 35:36

And that's what I think helps expedite the students being ready to enter the workforce within just a year, right, versus the student who goes to college and has four years to mature and grow into that adult who can work, enter the workforce. So I think either model is fine. And you know, some students want the college experience, which is very different from the experience that we offer. But this is another option if getting into a job much quicker is important to you. Or if you just don't have the financial resources to go to college, this is an option, because it is 100%, free to every student who gets accepted.

Eddie Rester 36:12

How does the student, and you talked about recruiting, if somebody is listening and thinking, I know somebody or I've got a kid, or I got a grandkid who might be interested in that? How does somebody get into Base Camp?

Corey Mize 36:29

Yeah, so we're actually changing up the admissions model a little bit this year. Traditionally, what has happened is starting in January of each year, we open up our admissions process. And that starts with a nomination. And it has to start with a nomination of some adult that's not related to the student but knows them well enough that they can give us some information about their attitude and aptitude within a form that they fill out.

Corey Mize 36:53

This year, we're going to do it a little bit differently. We're actually going to open up the entire admissions process starting in the fall to try to get more students involved earlier in the process and hopefully catch more students before they make final decisions about what they're doing for graduation.

Eddie Rester 37:10

Yeah.

Corey Mize 37:10

And so what is going to happen now is that they're still going to have to have some sort of recommendation from an adult that doesn't know them. So they're, you know, whether that's a coach or teacher or a pastor, or some other community member or someone they're close to you that can speak to their aptitude and attitude. But students can also apply before that happens. So there'll be an application that they can fill out online. And we will contact them. We'll do a first round interview, which is really informational, where we get to know them a little bit. We tell them a lot about Base Camp. We make sure they understand what we are and what we do. And then once they do that, there's a programming challenge that we use to just kind of see where they're at skill-level wise, and give them a taste of what they'll actually do here at Base Camp. So it's very simple. There's some informational videos that go along with it.

Corey Mize 37:58

And again, it's just to give them an idea of what they would do at Base Camp and give us an idea of how their brain works and how they solve problems. And then the second round interview, is where we really kind of make our final evaluation of does this student seem like a good fit for Base Camp, in what their goals are for themselves and in, you know, the way that they interact and behave and their attitude and drive and motivation to do the program. And make final decision after that second round interview.

Eddie Rester 38:27

I've got a daughter who just finished her senior year of high school, and I think that move to the fall for that process to begin for the student really makes a lot of sense, because that's when all the college fairs are and a lot of that information hits the students, you know, September, October, and then by November, a lot of kids are beginning to process what's gonna be next. That sounds like a great shift.

Corey Mize 38:53

Yeah, and we've done recruiting all year round, right? We tell students about it all year round, but if they have to wait until January to kind of act on it, that can be a roadblock. You know, they forget about it, or something else comes along before then that they want to act on. So we feel like, you know, making it open and available throughout the entire school year will hopefully give us a bigger pool of students to pick from.

Eddie Rester 39:17

Yeah. So as we think about, you know, big picture, what are things that just in your mind, for the future of Base Camp? What are some needs? What if a community member said, "Man, I'd love to invest in that," what are some of y'all's dreams right now for the next year or two or three down the road?

Corey Mize 39:40

Yeah, I mean, we have a lot of goals we've been talking about in terms of things we want to see happen. You know, there's a lot of retention things and diversity goals that we have for continuing to expand our program and retain more students and get rid of some of those, I guess outside roadblocks that some of them run into. So we've talked about a lot of different things. I mean, some students, you know, they have financial barriers that prevent them from continuing on in the program. And so obviously, any way that we can continue to increase our sponsorship pool and offer additional resources and things to our students that can make this more accessible is always something we think about.

Corey Mize 40:21

Transportation is always a big topic that we discuss. You know, is there a way we can create some sort of busing, van system like they had in high school that can help them get here, you know, in emergency situations where a car's in the shop for a week. You know, is there again, just getting the word out spreading the word. Are there different campaigns we could help fund or pay for that would help get the word spread, or are there other events and things that we can attend to help get the word out about what we do?

Corey Mize 40:53

I think some other goals that we have is one day, we would love to open this up outside of just high school students, and try to create some sort of program for adults who want a second career or a new career, and create a program that that caters to that demographic instead of just students graduating from high school. But those are, you know, really long term lofty goals that would take more money and more personnel and new ideas around how the program is structured to make those happen. But those are some of our kind of lofty goals that we have in mind,

Eddie Rester 41:26

I just think the need is going to grow, when you think of almost every organization now has to have some form of someone who can program, can help figure out technical things, you know, banks and schools, and, you know, even some very large churches now have their own programmers on staff who are doing that kind of work. And so I would imagine if the gap is a thousand in 2020, 2021, I would imagine in the next three to four years, that gap will continue to grow. And either we'll figure out how to fill those jobs in Mississippi, or we'll be farming them out to other states who have the workforce. And again, when you think big picture for the state of Mississippi or any state, income of your residents impacts your tax base, which impacts what you can do and what you can fund and how all things work together, so.

Eddie Rester 42:31

One last question. You know, we're here at a church. Are there any ways that you think that, gosh, it would be great if local churches, in some way would partner with us? Is there a role in this educational model for us to help in some way?

Corey Mize 42:54

Yeah, so I've actually been communicating with a couple of folks. on this topic, there are several different things that I would love to see churches in our community help us with. One would just be helping us identify students, right. You guys have great students that come in your youth groups, and, you know, adults that interact with them and know them really well. And if we can just get more youth pastors and pastors in general, or other community members of your church, thinking about this program as an option for those students and steering them in that direction, and helping them see this as an option, that would be huge. Just getting nominations from you guys, helping us identify and recruit students for the program is, first and foremost, the biggest thing I think that churches can help with.

Corey Mize 43:41

There's another group of churches that we're working with, who some of the community, the members of the church see this as an outreach opportunity and are offering you know, rooms in their homes for the students to live in so they don't have to commute so far and to help with expenses. So that's, you know, another way that members might consider helping, if that's something they're open to, and that's a big ask. And that was just someone coming to us and offering it, that that even came about. And you know, things like that. If there are members of the church who have access to the church,van and wanted to drive around and help students get to class. There are so many things that if you guys have the resources and time that I think that we could definitely use assistance with.

Corey Mize 44:30

But the biggest thing is just helping us identify students because you guys have access to some great kids. And you have some great influence in their lives, in your roles in their lives that could help them steer in this direction.

Eddie Rester 44:43

Well, one of our high school graduates from our church is heading to you probably started this week, I guess so.

Corey Mize 44:49

Awesome!

Eddie Rester 44:49

Yeah. So yeah, well, Corey I just want to thank you for your time. I know it's a busy time for y'all. And just thank you for the great work that you're doing, helping students, helping families, and helping communities. I really appreciate what y'all are doing.

Corey Mize 45:06

Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, thank you for having me on here today. Things like this are what help us spread the word. So we appreciate you guys taking the time to recognize us and and learn more about Base Camp.

Eddie Rester 45:17

[OUTRO] Thank you for listening to this episode of The Weight.

Chris McAlilly 45:21

If you like what you heard today, feel free to share the podcast with other people that are in your network. Leave us a review. That's always really helpful. Subscribe, and you can follow us on our social media channels.

Eddie Rester 45:33

If you have any suggestions or guests you'd like us to interview or anything you'd like to share with us, you can send us an email at info@theweightpodcast.com. [END OUTRO]