Niesha Butler, a former professional basketball player and Brooklyn native, is giving back to her community one code at a time with her new STEAM program. 

“I started this because these kids need to have someone relatable to be able to achieve your goals,” said Butler. 

Butler is now a journalist and software engineer, and she stresses how important it is to “go pro” in something other than sports.  

Students at the program are taught coding, robotics, chess, video game app building, and athletic drills. Some students spent Tuesday creating a Ferris wheel out of Legos that they coded the directions to create.  

Every Saturday through September, Butler and the STEAM Champs coaches will be offering free classes to first-time students.