Computer Science Monthly Update

April 20, 2024– Manchester, NH – Mascoma Valley Regional High School Student Coral Guaraldi has received the New Hampshire NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing (AiC). The award, powered by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), recognizes 9th-12th grade women, genderqueer, and non-binary students for their computing-related achievements and interests, as part of an effort to encourage a diverse range of students to choose careers in technology.

Award recipients were selected from more than 3,300 applicants across 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, all U.S. overseas military bases, and Canada for their outstanding aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing as demonstrated by their computing experience, computing-related activities, leadership experience, tenacity in the face of barriers to access, and plans for post-secondary education.

Each recipient will receive recognition and prizes; induction into the AiC Community of more than 25,000 women, genderqueer, or non-binary technologists; access to resources, scholarships, and internship opportunities; and more.

“Encouraging students who have historically been underrepresented in technology fields is critical. Computing underlies an increasing number of the products and systems we use every day, and to ensure they are beneficial to the broadest group of people possible, a diverse group of people must dream them and then create them,” said NCWIT CEO and Executive Director Terry Hogan.

The affiliate ceremony was held at UNH Manchester on April 19. Dr. Karen Jin recognized the ten awardees from NH at the event. Awardees listened to and networked with professionals working in technology related industries in New Hampshire and a past award winner. The following professional gave a lot of insight and recommendations for awardees.

Saverna Ahmad is an entrepreneur and software engineer. She is the Co-Founder & CTO of the Rydelinx app and Tinktanc. She is a Tech Advocate for women in STEM as well as a speaker and writer to promote woman in computing.

Elspeth Cheung is a UNH Manchester Alum. She graduated in 2018 with a BA in Business and currently she works for Onbe, a Chicago-based dynamic and innovative payment solutions company. Her passion is to help companies grow from a technological standpoint.

Kaylie Sampson is currently an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College, pursuing Computer Science with a minor in Digital Arts. She is an incoming intern at Duolingo. Also, she worked in the Dartmouth DALI Lab to develop an application using user studies, UI/UX design, and React. She is a member of CoderDojo, Women in Computer Science (WiCS) and the Dartmouth Hacker Club.

Karen White has more than twenty years of project management experience that spans the information technology, health care, and insurance industries. She is a PMI Fellow, which is the highest and most prestigious individual award presented by Project Management Institute for service to the Institute and the project management profession. Dr. White currently is the director of UNH Master of Project Management program.

"We are proud of Coral's accomplishment in receiving this prestigious award. Coral demonstrated leadership skills, creativity, problem solving, and iterative design skills while taking our Intro to CAD course this fall. Coral is the first student from MVRHS to be recognized for this award. MVRHS has added to its computer science course offerings for the upcoming school year

, recognizing that exploring topics in computer science is a value to students' future success. " said Joanna Marcotte, Computer Science Teacher at MVRSD and CSTA-NH board member.

Applications for next years award cycle will open in September of 2024. For more information about the award and application process go to https://www.aspirations.org/

In this course students will use code.org to create basic digital cards, animations, and games. In the first few weeks of the course students work with basic shapes to program simple images the work up to adding text to create a scene. Students can choose challenge by using either block based or syntax programming when we being.

As student skills progress they will be creating more complex animations in the course and adding elements to control characters, score, and health as we work on building concepts related to programming games.

Computer Science Python Fundamentals is an introductory-level course for students brand new to programming and computer science. In this course, students will learn problem-solving strategies, software design, and the foundations of computer science using three key tools: the Project STEM programming environment, Firia Labs Code Space and CMU Academy. Not only will this course prepare students for continuing their studies in computer science (for example, by taking AP Computer Science A and AP Computer Science Principles), but it will also teach them how to think like a scientist and solve real-world problems, skills that are important to every 21st-century citizen. It's also recommended that students have familiarity with basic algebra principles before starting this course.

Prerequisite - Alg 1 70% or better

Students will learn concepts in the framework including: Impacts of Computing, Computational Thinking, Networks & System Design, Cybersecurity, and Digital Literacy. Learning Environment: The course utilizes a blended classroom approach. The content is fully web-based, with students writing and running code in the browser. Teachers utilize tools and resources provided by CodeHS to leverage time in the classroom and give focused 1-on-1 attention to students. Each unit of the course is broken down into lessons. Lessons consist of video tutorials, short quizzes, example programs to explore, and written programming exercises, adding up to over 100 hours of hands-on programming practice in total. Each unit ends with a comprehensive unit test and project that assesses student’s mastery of the material from that unit. Programming Environment: Students write and run programs in the browser using the CodeHS online editor. Students write text based programs using a modified JavaScript library with Karel and p5.js

Take a look at the job landscape for cyber in the region here.

Our yearbook staff is looking for photo submissions for spring sports. We are especially in need of Track & Field photos.

Please use the link below to submit directly to our yearbook software for consideration of your photos.

https://images.jostens.com/0pvlcaQeXODO-vYtpZSLRFA

These can be submitted through June 19th, 2024

TekTime Summer Boot Camp 2024 that is available for high school students to attend and learn about building computers hands-on!

Here is the information on our web site and the registration form if they would like to attend:

https://www.rivervalley.edu/cwf/tektime/

If you want to use this as an ELO make sure to talk to guidance prior to attending.

High school students gain the computer science skills they need to make an impact and prepare for tech careers in our free, virtual Summer Programs. Summer Program participants invest in their future by learning about tech jobs and meeting industry leaders, all while building a supportive community of sisterhood. These Programs offer incredible benefits including professional connections, financial grants, tech support and much more - no previous computer science experience required!!

These programs are completely free to those that qualify.

See full program details here

If you want to use this as an ELO make sure to talk to guidance prior to attending.

While there are no camps offered in NH this year there are virtual camps you can attend sponsored by the following organizations:

THE GOALS OF GENCYBER ARE TO:

• Ignite, increase and sustain awareness of secondary cybersecurity content and cybersecurity postsecondary and career opportunities for participants through year-round engagement;
• Increase student diversity in cybersecurity college and career readiness pathways at the secondary level; and
• Facilitate teacher readiness within a teacher learning community to learn, develop, and deliver cybersecurity content for the secondary classroom in collaboration with other nationwide initiatives.

Rhode Island College (Free CAMP)

University of Denver Colorado (Free Camp)

If you are interested in an onsite camp view the full list linked below.

To locate a camp go here

If you want to use this as an ELO make sure to talk to guidance prior to attending.

Manchester Tech Camp Application & Enrollment

The process for enrolling in a Manchester Tech Camp program is slightly different from other UNH Youth Programs. We have a two-part process that starts with the submission of an application.

Once you have officially applied, a member of the Manchester Tech Camp team will reach out within the next three-week period via email to provide enrollment information if accepted into a program. This is done through the centralized UNH Youth Programs website. All applications must be completed by May 1, 2024. Submitting an application does not automatically enroll the student into the program.

For questions or more information, please contact Shannon McCracken-Barber at shannon.mccrackenbarber@unh.edu or Amy Booth at amy.booth@unh.edu.

Full full camp options description & application go here

If you want to use this as an ELO make sure to talk to guidance prior to attending.