Computer science students at Whitewater High School have been testing their skills against other students from the region as well as across the country by competing in two recent problem-solving challenges.
All computer science students took part in the annual Bebra’s Computational Thinking Challenge in early November. This online competition challenged students to tackle visual problems within the areas of informatics and computational thinking. Students were divided into two divisions based on grade level, with freshmen and sophomores competing in the Junior Division and juniors and seniors facing off in the Senior Division. The challenge was available nationally.
Sophomore Josh Nygren was the top scoring Whitewater student in the Junior Division. Finishing in a tie for second in the Junior Division were sophomore Carson Miller and freshman Jayden Kehrer.
In the Senior Division, top honors went to senior Andrew O’Toole, who was one question shy of matching the top score in the state with a score that ranked in the 98.4th percentile nationally. Second place in the Senior Division went to junior Ace Hudec, with senior Zoe Olson finishing third. Also receiving distinctions in the Senior Division were junior Margaret Brown and senior Quinlan McCarthy.
On Friday, November 22, thirteen programming students traveled to the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) for the annual Opportunity Conference Computer Competition. Whitewater students divided into four teams, with the newest programmers competing in Python and the more advanced students competing in Java. 50 teams from 13 schools from Wisconsin and Illinois competed throughout the morning to solve up to 9 problems of varying difficulty. The Whitewater team of Andrew O’Toole, Ace Hudec, Margaret Brown, and Zoe Olson placed 8th overall, finishing just one problem solution behind the winning team from Crystal Lake Central High School in Illinois. Other Whitewater programmers who accepted this challenge included sophomore Silas Long, sophomore Colby Long, senior Rae Breisath, junior Izzy Lavertu, Carson Miller, freshman Mason Schwartz, junior Narek Keshishyan, senior Alexis Amaya-Tizapa, and freshman James Pinzino.
Whitewater High School offers ten different computer science courses including Python Programming, AP Computer Science A, Microcontroller Programming, Digital Electronics, Networking, Web Programming, Computer Concepts, App Development, Game Development, and a Senior Project Studio. Five of these courses are transcripted with Gateway Technical College so that students can earn both credit at WHS and at Gateway. Computer Programming Team members will have the opportunity to compete one more time this school year at the Marquette University Programming Contest in April.
Article submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Computer Science Teacher
lmasbruch@wwusd.org
