LA PLATA, Md.—The computer bowl team from La Plata High School won the top spot at the 2013 Southern Maryland Regional Computer Bowl held March 2 at North Point High School. As the first-place winners, the team received a plaque and trophies, and each member received a gift card from SMECO, a Kindle Fire tablet from Booz Allen Hamilton and a $500 scholarship from the College of Southern Maryland.
The team earned the top spot out of 23 teams from nine high schools in Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s counties. Team members include seniors Christopher Clark, Thomas McGinnis and Alex Smith, and Cody McGinnis, sophomore. Team coach is Richard Williams, a computer teacher at La Plata. Teams compete in two rounds of competition.
In the first round of the competition, students complete a written test about computer history, hardware and software. In the second round, teams of up to three or four students created computer programs to solve specific problems, using programming languages such as Java and Visual BASIC.
Each team was supplied with two laptops by Charles County Public Schools for the programming portion of the competition. Smart Technologies and CCS Presentation provided Smart Response pads for the literacy portion. Two other teams from La Plata, as well as teams from Henry E. Lackey, Maurice J. McDonough, North Point, Thomas Stone and Westlake high schools, also competed in the event.
Each year, student teams in the tri-county area compete in the event. The competition was sponsored by SMECO, the College of Southern Maryland, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s County public schools. Judges for the competition were from Booz Allen Hamilton, the College of Southern Maryland and System Planning Corporation.
Source: Charles County Public Schools