High School Computer Competition (Chicago, 2014)

BDPA Chicago, founded March 1986, is the reigning BDPA Chapter of the Year. Our Chicago chapter has won that prestigious award four times (1992, 2000, 2005 and 2013). However, the proudest accomplishment of the chapter may be the two times - 1994 and 2006 - that they took home the gold medal for the national BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC). BDPA Chicago is one of only two chapters to outperform BDPA Southern Minnesota chapter over the past ten years in the national HSCC championship. The chapter's HSCC coordinator shared his insights on that 2006 championship effort with our blog a few years ago.

Hundreds of young men and women have been impacted by the Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program in Chicago. Some of these students shared their thoughts about BDPA in this video clip:



We are pleased to report on the progress of the students featured in this video:

• Courtney Elzy scheduled to graduate next year from Illinois State University.
• Joseph Huggins, Jr. graduated from the US Naval Academy. He now serves our nation as a midshipman for the US Navy.
• We are unsure about the current whereabouts of Kenneth McCune. Do you know where he matriculated for college and such?
• Carlton Means attended Hampton University. He is now working at Adventist Midwest Health.
• Lee Reed graduated with honors from the University of Michigan. He now works for BDPA sponsor Deloitte.

There are new students competing for the right to represent the chapter at the 2014 HSCC championship in Indianapolis. The national team for Chicago will be selected from among the students shown in the photo shown below.

Back Row: Malcolm Range, Tyrese Cook, Raymond Adams, DeVaughn Welch
Middle Row: Cassie Bey, Christian Cherry, Paige Davis
Front Row: Matthew Davis, Marcus

BDPA Chicago Chapter’s SITES program teaches students in 6th through 12th grade to create web applications with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MySQL, Ajax and PHP using components of the agile development methodology. Students that are ineligible to compete learn how to create android mobile applications. In addition to technical topics, the students are coached in effective study habits, presentation skills, professionalism and leadership. The top five students based on participation points, homework, and test scores will participate in the national competition.

These BDPA students are encouraged to pursue post-secondary education, be the best that they can be and encourage others to do the same. We need support from our blog's readers to raise funds to provide college scholarships for BDPA Chicago students. Won't you help us by making a secure online donation?

Related articles

• Overview: BDPA High School Computer Competition

2006 National BDPA HSCC Champions (Chicago)

My understanding is that this photo includes the young brothers from Chicago that won the 2006 National BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC) championship in Los Angeles, CA.  

L-R: Yvette Graham, TBD, Lee Reed, TBD, Joseph Huggins, Gibran McDuffie and TBD.

Can anyone help us name the other folks in this photo?

BDPA iRadio Show - October 11, 2011

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is very proud to be the creator of the BDPA iRadio Show. Our Internet Radio Show has been up and running for almost four months with over 60 guests. You can listen to the archive version of the show using the widget shown in the right-hand sidebar of this blog. In any case, here is the archive version of the show from Tuesday, October 11, 2011.

Listen to internet radio with BDPA on Blog Talk Radio

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The guests on the show included:

1. Jeff Stovall - Chief Information Officer, City of Charlotte - Mr. Stovall was recently named one of the 'Top 50 African Americans in Technology'. He is one of the highest ranking African American CIOs working in government. We look forward to learning about his journey toward the CIO position. He will share his advice on what IT professionals that are serious about their career advancement need to know in they want to reach the C-level corporate suite.
2. Lee Reed - 2006 National HSCC Champion, BDPA Chicago - Lee is one of the most remarkable young men in BDPA history. Lee Reed is a remarkable young man. He was a 5-time participant in the national HSCC championship … his team won the championship in 2006. He earned the Bank of America Scholarship for BDPA Students, Jesse Bemley Scholarship and the Eli Lilly Scholarship for BDPA Students ... each administered by BETF. He used his scholarships to attend the University of Michigan. It will be great to listen to his thoughts on how his experiences with BDPA influenced his college and career choices.
3. Craig Brown - Incoming Vice President, National BDPA - Dr. Craig Brown was elected to be National BDPA Vice President for the next two years. He will work with incoming national president Monique Berry and the incoming regional officers to take BDPA to the next level. Dr. Brown has a 24 year career serving as an expert systems and database architect within leading technologies like Oracle, Oracle-PeopleSoft, SAP, IBM and Microsoft. His experiences are more particular to the Enterprise Resource Planning, Decision Support and Relational Database Management Systems technologies. He earned over 20 certifications within these technological areas and currently provides implementation and integration expertise along with a variety of other technological disciplines. He holds a BS in Computer Science as well as a Master's in Business and a Doctorate in Management Information Systems. Dr. Brown should be able to share with our iRadio Show audience his vision for the future of BDPA.

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There were some great discussions between our guests and Franne McNeal on the show tonight.   What aspect of the show did you enjoy the most?

HSCC Testimonial: 2009 BDPA Chicago High School Competition Team (VIDEO)

This is a remarkable video pulled together by BDPA Chicago education director Deborah De Vaughn. It provides some remarkable insights from the five young people that represented Chicago at the 2009 National BDPA High School Computer Competition Championship held in Raleigh NC.





We are very proud of Courtney Elzy, Joseph Huggins, Kenneth McCune, Carlton Means and Lee Reed. In fact, these young people have inspired us to create a college scholarship fund for future BDPA Chicago students!

Google Fuse Program

Soulclap to Lee Reed, 2006 National BDPA High School Computer Competition champion, for sharing information about a greater program for college freshmen. Lee wrote,

"Hi Wayne, I was hoping you could post this on BETF blog or send to any HSCC freshmen alum that are pursuing CS that you think might be interested. I participated last summer and had a great experience."

The program he is talking about is Google FUSE. For the second summer in a row, FUSE will provide an opportunity for successful and invested freshman computer science (CS) students who are historically underrepresented in the field to connect with one another and with Google. Up to 50 aspiring computer scientists will be invited to an all-expenses paid retreat that will run for three days on July 14-16, 2010 in New York, NY and July 20-22, 2010 in Seattle, WA. We want you to apply!

Program Goals:

1. to form a network among the top young CS students from underrepresented backgrounds that will allow them to learn about research, academic, and industry opportunities in the years to come.
2. To make connections between students and Googlers that will allow students to discover career paths, create meaningful academic experiences, and take advantage of their college years in CS.
3. To give students an insight into careers in CS and show how rewarding, challenging, and fun they can be.

To learn more about the program, please visit the FUSE student site and apply online. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 30, 2010.

Please note that this opportunity is for current Freshmen who will be full-time second year students in the 2010–2011 academic year.

The next step is yours ... do you have anyone in your chapter, family, church or school that you think might be interested in this opportunity?

2006 National BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC) Rankings

The National BDPA HSCC championships were held in Los Angeles CA in 2006. The west coast venue proved to be too costly for some teams to attend. As a result, the level of participation dipped down to 19 teams. Nevertheless, the battle for supremacy amongst the high school students was intense.

The HSCC team trained by BDPA Southern Minnesota tried valiantly to defend the national championship won the year before. However, this was the year for the HSCC team trained by BDPA Chicago chapter to finally break through for the gold medal. It was a remarkable effort by four truly remarkable young people (Joseph Huggins, Lee Reed, Andreaus Robinson and Maurice Shelton), their coach (Gibran Adejele) and chapter president (Yvette Graham).

Here are the rankings for all 19 teams that competed in 2006 national HSCC championships with the scholarship winnings for each student in parenthesis:

1. Chicago ($2500 Bemley Scholarship)
   
2. Southern Minnesota ($1500 Bemley Scholarship)
   
3. Washington DC ($500 Bemley Scholarship)
   
4. Chattanooga
   
5. Central Illinois
   
6. Richmond
   
7. Austin
   
8. Hartford
   
9. Cincinnati
   
10. Los Angeles
    
11. Charlotte
    
12. Philadelphia
    
13. Detroit
    
14. Twin Cities
    
15. Dayton
    
16. Dallas
    
17. St. Louis
    
18. Atlanta
    
19. Rhode Island

This was the only year since 2002 where we didn't have HSCC teams trained by Cleveland or New Jersey chapters in the competition.

Our foundation seeks to increase the number of students that receive Bemley Scholarships in 2009 and beyond. To do so, we need your help. Please consider making an online donation to help us interest young people in science and technology.

Anyhow, were any of you at the 2006 National BDPA Technology Conference held in Los Angeles, CA? Do you remember the HSCC championships? Do you remember any of the workshops or speakers from that year's conference?

BDPA Foundation Announces Eli Lilly Scholarship Winners

The BDPA Education & Technology Foundation (BETF), in coordination with Eli Lilly and Company, is pleased to announce the winner of the third annual Eli Lilly and Company Scholarship for BDPA Students. The two winners this year are Carrine Johnson, a senior at Palos Verdes Peninsula High and Hung Vo, a computer science student at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The purpose of the Eli Lilly Scholarship for BDPA Students is to recognize outstanding minority students, with an interest in information technology, who make significant contributions to society. Applicants must excel academically, show exceptional leadership potential, and make an impact on their communities through service to others.

"Thank you for selecting me as one of the two winners ... I am very excited about winning this scholarship! It will be extremely useful" said Carrine Johnson.

Part of the application process is an essay that answers the question 'Why is Information Technology Important'. Carrine's essay focused on the development of nation's economy, environment and education. Click here for the full text of her winning essay.

Hung's essay focused on the impact of IT on the healthcare industry. Click here for the full text of his winning essay.

“Eli Lilly and Company continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to the development of tomorrow’s leaders within the information technology industry,” said Wayne Hicks, BETF Executive Director. “The BDPA Foundation is pleased to work with Eli Lilly to help cultivate these future leaders. Our hope is that other corporations will contact us for similiar scholarship opportunities”

Previous Eli Lilly scholars were:

• 2008 - Khalia Braswell (North Carolina State University) and Christian West (Northwestern University)


• 2007 - Daniel Puente (Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center School of Business and Management) and Lee Reed (University of Michigan)

Feedback: Parents of HSCC Alumni Lee Reed (Chicago)

Lee Reed, Jr. was the captain of the high school computer competition team trained by BDPA Chicago chapter. Lee earned $13,000 in scholarships from BDPA for his participation in our youth education programs. Also, he won three computers, a printer, an iPod, a Zune, a nice watch, and an XBox 360 Elite. Not to mention complimentary all-expense paid trips to seven of the 50 states.

Do you ever wonder how parents of our HSCC alumni feel about BDPA? I don't recall ever seeing anything written by a parent before. As such, we are proud to share with you words from the parents of Lee Reed Jr. Here is what they wrote:

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As you know, we are so appreciative of the experience and knowledge that Lee has gained as a student member of BDPA! Because of BDPA, Lee is comfortable speaking with C-level executives, as well as his peers. This past summer, Lee interned with JP Morgan Chase, a BDPA supporter. Because of the comfort level that Lee gained speaking with executives through his BDPA involvement, the CFO of his division at JP Morgan Chase, as well as other top-ranking executives, became his personal mentors.

BDPA teaches the students teamwork and networking skills; how to facilitate meetings, deliver speeches, plan, organize and execute, in addition, to programming. In addition, Lee was taught how to conduct himself at conventions, and has traveled with BDPA to Atlanta, Detroit, Cincinnati, Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Washington DC.

When Lee applied to colleges, he was able to demonstrate skills by reference in his college and scholarship applications, because he learned them through BDPA. Lee was accepted with scholarships to: Duke, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Georgia Tech, University of Illinois, and the University of Michigan. He is currently enrolled at the University of Michigan in engineering. He was awarded the U of M Bell scholarship, ($80,000), primarily, because of his computer skills and other skills he acquired as a member of BDPA. All in all, Lee received $150,000 in total scholarships (full-ride), that will be used toward tuition, room and board and fees at U of Michigan.

Colleges are looking for students with the background that BDPA teaches its students. I encourage all parents to introduce BDPA to other students, families and friends. Lee plans on being a lifetime member of BDPA, and will be a participant at future events and conventions, further expanding his knowledge base.

Thank you,
Mr. and Mrs. Reed
Lee Reed's parents

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Are you a parent? If so, what do you think about what Mr. and Mrs. Reed had to say?

High School Computer Competition (Chicago)

BDPA Education & Technology Foundation (BETF) is proud to know that Bemley Scholarships, BDPA Scholarships sponsored by Bank of America and Eli Lilly Scholarships for BDPA Students have supported the educational goals of many BDPA Chicago high school students over the past few years.

In fact, Lee Reed,one of the top BETF scholars in our history, won all three of these scholarships. Lee is shown in the photo with other members of the bronze-medal winning team from Chicago at the 2008 national competition. Lee is now a freshman at the University of Michigan.

Anyhow, it should be noted that BDPA Chicago is already recruiting for its 2009 High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team web site. They have created a website, www.computer-competition.org/, to help you find information about their program, resources they use, and links to key web sites.

The HSCC program in Chicago and elsewhere prepares students to participate in computer programming competitions utilizing the Java programming language. Students learn to build web based, database driven, software applications. The principle goal of HSCC to teach students to use technology to solve business problems.

Are students being recruited in other chapters around the country?

HSCC Alumni Earn the BDPA Scholarships Sponsored by Bank of America

The BDPA Foundation is proud to announce two winners of the 2008 BDPA Scholarships sponsored by Bank of America.

Lee Reed (Walter Payton College Prep '08) and Kunle Roberts (Mayo Senior High School '08) selected by the Bank of America scholarship committee to each receive $2,500 scholarship that may be used to pursue an information technology related degree at an accredited two or four-year college or university of their choice.

Lee Reed is a 4-time member of the national BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team trained by our BDPA Chicago chapter. Lee's team won the 2006 national championship and followed up the next year with a bronze medal in the 2007 championship. Lee plans to attend the University of Michigan later this year.

Kunle Roberts is a 2-time member of the national HSCC team trained by our BDPA Southern Minnesota chapter. Kunle's team won the 2007 national championship after taking home the silver medal in the 2006 championship. Kunle plans to attend Rice University later this year.

The BDPA Scholarship sponsored by Bank of America recognizes outstanding students of color, with an interest in information technology who make significant contributions to society. Applicants must excel academically, show exceptional leadership potential and make an impact through service to their communities.

Our understanding is that both Lee and Kunle will use their BDPA Scholarships to supplement benefits from the academic institution a student plans to attend and fellowships from other foundations or organizations. Students may use the scholarship to cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, room and board and other college-related expenses.

Please take a moment to share some BDPA love with both Lee and Kunle for their outstanding achievements!

Lee Reed Jr. (Chicago) * Eli Lilly Scholarship for BDPA Students

Lee Reed Jr. won the Eli Lilly Scholarship for BDPA Students last year. This graduate of Walter Payton High School in Chicago IL will use his scholarship funding to attend the University of Michigan in a few months.

Lee is spending his summer as an intern at JPMorgan Chase. He is also working with the HSCC national team trained by BDPA Chicago chapter for the fifth year in a row! Lee distinguished himself as a phenomenal engineer and student.

It is no coincidence that BDPA Chicago HSCC team won three gold medals at the Midwest Regional (2004-2006). BDPA Foundation is proud to know that Lee is a Bemley Scholar as a result of his National HSCC championship (2006) and National HSCC bronze medal (2007).

Lee is the team captain for the BDPA Chicago HSCC team that will compete in Atlanta GA next month. I encourage you to use the COMMENTS section below to share some love with this winner of the 2007 Eli Lilly Scholarship for BDPA Students!


NOTE: The 2008 Eli Lilly Scholarship for BDPA Students is accepting applications through July 25.