Valley View High School Students Maddison Chau and Alexa Torres received NCWIT Awards for Aspirations in Computing (AiC) and their teacher, Jeanine Rioux, also earned an award. The awards, powered by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), recognizes 9-12th grade women, genderqueer, and non-binary students for their computing-related achievements and interests, as part of an effort to encourage a diverse range of students to choose careers in technology.
Maddison Chau earned the Regional Winner NCWIT Award, Alexa Torres earned the Regional Rising Star NCWIT Award and Ms. Rioux earned the Regional Educator Winner.
“We are so proud of our students and their teacher,” said Superintendent Dr. Martinrex Kedziora. “We hear so many great things about our students after they graduate, but these awards are about the current students that we are serving now. These awards are a testament to Ms. Rioux’s impact on our students and their future careers in computer science and technology. Maddison and Alexa are shining examples of what our students are capable of and are leading the way for others to follow a similar path.”
Student award recipients were selected from more than 3,300 applicants from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. overseas military bases, and Canada for their outstanding aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing as demonstrated by their computing experience, computing-related activities, leadership experience, tenacity in the face of barriers to access, and plans for post-secondary education.
“I became interested in technology at a very young age,” said Torres. “I would sit on my brother's bed and watch as he would take apart computers and put them back together again. After a few times of doing this, I decided to try it for myself and asked him if he could teach me or let me experiment. This led to me looking into anything involving computers more, which ended up with me discovering computer science and robotics….Computer science and the other classes involving computers that I have taken have helped me realize what my goal in life is. I want to be able to create things that would be beneficial to others or simply make their lives a bit better.”
Torres aspires to attend UC San Diego and major in computer science. Her ideal career goal is to be a software engineer.
“I received the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Inland Empire Award to honor my involvement in Valley View's Computer Science Honor Society and my community-based technological projects,” said Chau. “This award highlights our club's coding field trips to local middle schools that aim to inspire the next generation of computer scientists and my engineering projects that focus on providing aid to marginalized groups in healthcare. Our club has visited middle schools to teach engaging coding lessons to all grades, encouraging students to learn how to code.”
Chau is interested in pursuing a career in engineering as it relates to the medical field.
“My most notable engineering project is my C++ algorithm that integrates an Arduino Uno in recording speech, recognizing distinct phrases, and outputting a related LED display. Adding the Arduino to a mask would aid in increasing communication between the deaf community and physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Each recipient will receive recognition and prizes; induction into the AiC Community of more than 22,000 women, genderqueer, or non-binary technologists; access to resources, scholarships, and internship opportunities; and more.
“Encouraging all students’ interest in technology careers is critical: our workforce needs their creativity and unique perspectives to produce technology that is as broad and innovative as the population it serves,” said NCWIT CEO and Co-founder Lucy Sanders.
“We are happy to know that two of our students earned these prestigious awards, including their teacher,” said School Board President Susan Smith. “Valley View High School offers unique programs for our students to explore computer science as a potential career field. We will continue to support these programs and look forward to their continued growth and success.”
NCWIT is the farthest-reaching network of change leaders focused on advancing innovation by correcting underrepresentation in computing. NCWIT convenes, equips, and unites more than 1,500 change leader organizations nationwide to increase the influential and meaningful participation of girls and women — at the intersections of race/ethnicity, class, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, and other historically marginalized identities — in the field of computing, particularly in terms of innovation and development. Find out more at www.ncwit.org.