Standard 9: School/program provides within-school and extra-curricular opportunities for students to extend STEM learning.
Concept 1: School/programs provides a variety of STEM-specific extracurricular and extended day opportunities for all learners (clubs, competitions, summer camps)
CyberPatriot
CyberPatriot is an organization that teaches students about the importance of cyber security. Computer Science partners with the Air Force JROTC to field civilian and service member teams. We started this program in 2018 and it has continued to grow year after year. Visit USCyberPatriot's Website to learn more.
2018 Summary
Our first year competing in the Cyber Patriot was a very eventful experience. Our school had 2 Air Force JROTC teams and 1 Civilian team. Not knowing much of what to expect, our students jumped right in and started learning. Although our first match was met with challenges and a steep learning curve, our scores progressed from Round 1 to Round 2.
At the State Round, our progress continued. Our top JROTC group actually won the State Championship in the Silver Division. Winning the title qualified the team for the National Competition. Although the final round was the toughest yet, our students were very pleased with their results. Many of the students would eventually come back for the next season. |
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2019 Summary
Our second year competing was also an exciting year. After winning the Silver Division State Championship, our team had their sights set on making the Gold Division. This year also saw a bump in participation up to 21 students. However, the largest jump in participation was in students that didn't have any previous Computer Science classes. In the first year, a large percentage of students participating had learned about the program while taking pathway courses. In 2019, the word got out to other students and allowed students not in the pathway to get valuable experience without taking Computer Science classes.
Our Top JROTC team, did make to Gold Level Playoff round by demonstrating a higher level of understanding. However, in the playoffs the competition was very difficult and we fell short of making the National Competition |
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2020 Summary
2020 brought lots of challenges related to virtual learning and the COVID19 pandemic. However, the growth of the program continued. The number of students participating continued to grow. An area that saw continued progress is with gender. In 2018, female participation in the program was 13%. In 2020, female participation is up to 44%.
Our diversity numbers are also close to mirroring the schools population. Another interesting aspect of our growth is the number of students in non-computer science pathways that are participating. This demonstrates that our ability to reach out to students not taking Computer Science classes is working. |
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Esports
Esports is a sports activity that incorporates gaming with features found in more traditional sports like competition, practicing, and winning championships. Our Esports program started by playing a large array of games including Rocket League, League of Legends, and Smite. Our plans are to add new games like Madden 2020, FIFA2020 and Super Smash Bros as early as Spring 2021.
2018/2019 Summary
In our first year of Esports, we were able to compete in 3 different games. Students selected games they were interested in and then we started practicing to find the best roles for our students.
Although Esports doesn't require coding or programming, it does teach students about desirable traits found in the industry. All esports students must be effective communicators to tell others what they are doing and what might need attention. They also must be able to work within a team. All of our sports involve playing a specific role to make the team better. Our school uses Esports to find students interesting in gaming and then encourage them to learn about Computer Science along the way. |
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2019/2020 Summary
In the second year of esports, we continued to expand our numbers in size and diversity. After having a year under our belt, we were able to implement new strategies to help grow the sport. This year we made an effort to brand our team by ordering jerseys, making custom mouse pads. We also were able to do more outreach in the community by doing a Esports Summer Camp and by getting sponsored by Woodall Orthodontics and Moe's Southwest Grill.
Our teams were very successful this year as all of our teams made the playoffs. Our Spring season was cut short due to the COVID19 pandemic. |
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2020/2021 Summary
The Fall 2020 season has been a challenge with the COVID19 pandemic. We have tried to accommodate all athletes as best as we can. We incorporated more opportunities to play from home to meet the needs of at home learners. We also moved practices to home to help with social distancing. One factor we couldn't avoid was budget cuts, which will limit esports to only a Fall season.
Another exciting aspect of this year, was the introduction of a Recreation League along with the Varsity sports. This should provide an avenue for participation for students that aren't interested in an intense gaming/sport experience. The changes that we made resulted in positive changes in our gender ratio and in the number of students participating that aren't taking Computer Science classes. |
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Computer Science Club
The Computer Science Club is an overarching organization that brings opportunities for enrichment or competition to Computer Science students. A large number of our members participate in various mentoring opportunities usually at one of our feeder schools. Those opportunities may include the Hour of Code or one of the after school Coding Clubs. Students are also encouraged to participate in the Regional and State Technology Fair. We also bring more focused opportunities to students that can be done as individuals without a school sponsored advisor like the Congressional App Challenge or the West Georgia Hackathon.
2016/17 Summary
In the first year of the Computer Science Club, we had a lot of interest within the class. Most of the members came from within the Computer Science Pathway. A large number of students participated in the West Georgia Tech Fair and we even had a few to qualify for the State Technology Fair.
In addition to competitions, we also participated in mentoring. We had several students go over to the Hour of Code event at the Elementary School. We were able to mentor over 800 students in 1 day. A lot of what happened on that day started our momentum for K-12 Computer Science programs. |
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2017/18 Summary
In the second year of the Computer Science Club, we continued our progress with the Tech Fair competitions. We also participated in the University of West Georgia Hackathon.
We also continued our mentoring at the Elementary School during the Hour of Code. |
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2018/19 Summary
2018 was a big school year for the Computer Science Department. This is the first year that had students completing a pathway, which means taking all 3 courses. We participated in the Tech Fair Competitions, UWG Hackathon and also the Congressional App Challenge. This was the first year for us to compete in the app challenge. We ended up winning a trip to Washington, DC to present the students app to Congress.
Roster & Demographics Competition Results |
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2019/20 Summary
2019 was a large jump in diversity for us. The original plan to use gaming to leverage student's interests to encourage them to join. But that attracted a large percentage of males. We decided to scale back the game design and offer apps and other areas to leverage a more diverse audience.
Roster & Demographics Competition Results |
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2020/21 Summary
2020 has been another year of growth, but also a year of challenges. Several opportunities to mentor, compete, and learn have been delayed or even cancelled due to the pandemic.
Roster & Demographics
Competition Results
Roster & Demographics
Competition Results
Other Evidence
VEX Robotics Club
Remote Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV) Club
Technology Student Association (TSA)
Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
Remote Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV) Club
Technology Student Association (TSA)
Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
Concept 2: Students have multiple formal, age-appropriate opportunities to engage with STEM practitioners, community experts, and/or other STEM partners.
YouScience Partnership with Rotary Club
Our school started giving the YouScience exam in 2018. The exam is a skills and aptitude test and the results provide an insight into what careers the students may enjoy and do well at. In our first year, we had members of the local Rotary club to mentor students on the results and what careers it may lead to.
Career Expo
The following years, our Career Center decided to host a Career Expo is designed to match students with leaders in careers that match their YouScience scores. Each student would get a personalized schedule with their top 3 careers. Then, they would go from guest speaker to guest speaker to hear about specific careers they were interested in.