SIDNEY — Sidney High School, in cooperation with the Upper Valley Career Center, sent four students to the Business Professionals of America (BPA) National Leadership Conference and Competition in Orlando, Florida in early May.
To qualify for the BPA National Leadership Conference, junior Joseph Douglas, senior NourEddine Hijazi, senior Anthony Mitchell and senior Elliot Wilson had to place in the top five at the State Leadership Conference or top ten in the nation in the virtual events.
Douglas and Mitchell competed in the C++ programming contest. Douglas earned his way by placing fifth at the BPA State Leadership Conference. Mitchell was the state champion in C++ and is a two time national qualifier. Mitchell’s highest place at nationals was 10th. Hijazi placed fourth at the State Leadership Conference in Java Programming. He went on to place 14th at the National Leadership Conference. For the programming contests, student competitors are given a programming scenario that they must solve within 90 minutes.
Wilson competed in Mobile Applications Development, a virtual event. His task was to design and develop an application to help high school students in their high school, and was given two months to complete the app. Student who finished in the top 20 in the nation were given an interview with judges. Following the interview process, only the top 10 are invited to the NLC to participate in the National Showcase. Wilson not only made it in the top twenty level and was given and interview, he was named one of the top 10 and participated in the National Showcase at the National Leadership Conference where he was named the National Runner Up in Mobile Applications Development. His second place finish at the BPA National Leadership Conference was the highest of any Sidney High School student.
These students are members of the Computer Information Systems Technology classes, an Upper Valley Career Center satellite program taught by Joe Spangler and Taylor Adami. These courses provide students with a working knowledge of computer concepts. CIS Technology I teaches students about input/output systems, computer hardware and operating systems, and office applications, as well as the basics of building simple, interactive applications. CIS Technology II goes into programming concepts – object oriented programming and visual program.
“Sidney High School is pretty unique in offering this technology program with a focus on programming,” said instructor Joe Spangler. “Many schools offer technology curriculum which may focus more on trouble shooting and repair or website design, videography, and illustration; however, our curriculum is about programming from planning and designing to testing computer, web, and mobile applications. The skills students learn in CIS Technology classes are skills that will elevate them in their future careers beyond high school.
