Hotep! BDPA Education & Technology Foundation (BETF) exists to provide financial support for BDPA. We share information about fundraising, funding sources and BDPA programs on this blog. The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent BDPA’s positions, strategies or opinions.
BDPA Cincinnati recently concluded its election for leadership in the next two years. Prince Ellis (Information Technology Department Chair, Brown Mackie College) was re-elected to a second 2-year term as the chapter's vice president of finance.
The election turned on Prince's past BDPA achievements. He helped organize the annual awards banquet, served as an instructor during the chapter's computer camp and worked closely with the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) to generate a record-breaking amount of revenue for the Cincinnati chapter. He attended most of the chapter events and successfully managed the chapter's funding.
Prince said, "I will continue to ensure zero-based budgeting and ensure that the chapter has funding for our events and programs."
The BDPA Cincinnati chapter leadership for 2012-2013 is:
Dalric Webb, Wanda Gray, Prince Ellis and Clarence Larcarte
BDPA Cincinnati has been around since 1989. It is a 4-time winner of the 'Chapter of the Year' honors on a national level and remains a powerhouse on both a regional and national level. The eyes of the nation will be watching Clarence as he takes the chapter to higher levels in the coming months and years.
In the new global economy, America needs a workforce with the knowledge and skills to compete. A new workforce of problem solvers, innovators and inventors who are self-reliant and able to think logically is one of the crucial foundations that drive innovation capacity in the nation. A key to developing these skills is strengthening science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competencies in every student and worker.
Conference participants were inspired by the opening remarks given by Cincinnati State president O'Dell Owens and BDPA Cincinnati chapter president Wanda Gray.
Two students from Detroit, Austin Little (University Academy HS) and Daniel Rothchild (Pioneer HS), demonstrated excellence throughout the event to take home the gold medal for their first-place performance.
The silver medal went to Cincinnati students: Hadiya Harrigan (Xavier HS), Christian Johnson (Mason HS) and Curtis Mimes (Taft HS).
The bronze medal went to a team of three students that participated via Skype from Los Angeles: Pooja Chebolu (California Academy of Math and Science), Akindele Davies (California Academy of Math and Science) and August Robinson (Hamilton HS).
Cincinnati Bell chief information officer Kevin Murray visited the regional competition to personally observe the work being done by the students. He noted that one of the high school students on the Cincinnati team recently accepted a summer internship within the Cincinnati Bell information technology department. He is looking for an opportunity to create a collaborative experience in the coming weeks and months between BDPA, Cincinnati Bell and Taft Information Technology High School.
Many of the students in this weekend's regional HSCC championship will have opportunity to travel to Chicago later this summer for the 26th annual National BDPA HSCC Championship in an effort to dethrone the 4-time defending HSCC champions from Rochester, Minnesota.
Another inspiring aspect of the event was the BDPA IT Showcase. This event aspires to create young people with skills and interest in pursuing STEM-based Ph.D. degrees after they graduate from college. There are too few people of African descent getting doctoral degrees in computer science and other STEM-based curriculum. BDPA hopes to create a pipeline of such academic superstars with its BDPA IT Showcase.
The four Cincinnati-based students who participated in the IT Showcase were: Jahaan Maiden (University of Cincinnati), Li-Ara Jackson (Mason HS), Landon Jackson (Mason HS) and Tariq Maiden (University of Cincinnati). These young people gave detailed presentations on a variety of topics including: 'History and Current Uses of GPS', 'Virtual Reality in Second Life' and 'How Global Processing Units Have Changed the World'.
The parents, volunteers, judges and sponsors were inspired by the performance of all the students who traveled by highways and cyberspace to participate in the BDPA Midwest Regional HSCC and IT Showcase. The hard work put in by Joseph Parker (Procter & Gamble) and his planning committee paid off in a major way.
BDPA is committed to prepare our children for careers in science and engineering much begin long before they are of college age. BDPA has a number of programs that enrich the pre-college STEM curriculum in the nation’s K-12 school systems, and encourage young students to take the requisite courses for careers in those fields. While the lack of preparation crosses all demographics, it is particularly acute in under-served communities.
We encourage you to find a way to support BDPA programs as either a volunteer or donor. Please contact BDPA Education and Technology Foundation executive director Wayne Hicks on (513) 284-4968 if you have questions or wish to discuss further.
