{"id":9981,"date":"2021-02-11T17:28:11","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T22:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=9981"},"modified":"2021-03-25T18:33:53","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T22:33:53","slug":"code-for-success-first-colonial-kellam-recognized-for-encouraging-tomorrows-computer-science-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/code-for-success-first-colonial-kellam-recognized-for-encouraging-tomorrows-computer-science-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Code for Success: First Colonial, Kellam recognized for encouraging tomorrow\u2019s computer science leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

First Colonial and Floyd E. Kellam high schools have earned the national 2020 AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/a>
First Colonial High School was recently recognized for excellence in computer science. Pictured, from left, are principal Dr. Nancy Farrell, teacher Jenny Yap and senior Alianexis Hernandez-Stanley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s the second consecutive year that the College Board recognized First Colonial (FC) for the outstanding work teachers are doing to encourage female students to pursue careers in programming \u2013 making FC the only school in the region to receive back-to-back distinctions. The success is due in large part to computer science teacher Jenny Yap, according to FC\u2019s principal, Dr. Nancy Farrell.<\/p>\n

\u201cMrs. Yap is such a great role model,\u201d she said. \u201cComputer science is such an important field of study, because computer programming is a part of everything in today\u2019s world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young women have made up more than 70% of the 65 students taking Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles at First Colonial the past two years. In 2018 and 2020, the pass rate on the AP exams was over 90%, and it was 100% in 2019.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m really happy about that,\u201d said Yap. \u201cMy students are very involved in their classwork.\u201d\"""\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Senior Alianexis Hernandez-Stanley started considering a career in computer science after taking Yap\u2019s class, and she especially enjoyed using her programming skills to build a soundboard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was excited to create something new,\u201d said Alianexis, who goes by \u201cAli.\u201d She is enrolled in the Legal Studies Academy and the Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow program. After college, she wants to be a software engineer and help more people have access to helpful technology.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same type of empowerment that Yap encountered when deciding to pursue mathematics and computer science at the University of the Philippines.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, computers were new to many people in the Philippines,\u201d Yap explained. \u201cI saw how computers could make people\u2019s jobs easier, so I became very interested.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Sharon Shewbridge, director of instructional technology at VBCPS, said she\u2019s glad the College Board recognized the computer science programs at First Colonial and Kellam. Research shows that female students who take AP Computer Science are more likely to major in the field in college and succeed in high-paying, in-demand jobs in the future, according to the College Board.<\/p>\n

Shewbridge believes that success on the high school level is a direct result of how the division encourages students to develop their technology skills early on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m humbled by the work that happens in elementary and middle schools with STEM camps,\u201d she said. \u201cThe work we\u2019re doing with our younger grades has encouraged girls to stay the course and consider careers in science and technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shewbridge is inspired by Ali’s desire to use her skills to embolden future generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love how she\u2019s seeing that she can make a difference in her own world by sharing her knowledge to make other people\u2019s experiences better,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First Colonial and Floyd E. Kellam high schools have earned the national 2020 AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award. It\u2019s the second consecutive year that the College Board recognized First […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":9983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9981"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9985,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9981\/revisions\/9985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}