A group of Newark students spent half the summer pushing the boundaries of technology in a program offered by the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the city of Newark.

The students, ages 16 through 18, participated in NJIT’s summer coding initiative — a three and a half-week program.

Student Stephanie Cholotio says that she already knew a little bit about computer science after taking a class in eighth grade. She showed off how she was able to build a house in virtual reality.

“We started with the living room, and then we extended to the kitchen, and then we decided, let’s be advanced, let’s be extra — and we decided to make a second floor,” Cholotio says.

The students also found that virtual reality technology can be used for a wide variety of activities.

“People who want to buy a house but don’t know really what’s inside it, you could show them that throughout the Oculus Rift,” says student Gabrielle Campbell.

“We need to cultivate our greatest natural resource,” says Sen. Cory Booker. “Not oil, not gas, not coal — but the genius of our kids.”

The students showed off what they learned at a special event Tuesday at NJIT. Dexter Goei, the CEO of News 12’s parent company Altice USA, was in the audience. He says he hopes to hire these students one day.

“What they’ve been able to do in a very short period of time blows me away,” Goei says.

As part of the program, students also paid a visit to Altice's video and data control center in Parsippany.