SMECO Sponsors So. Md. Computer Bowl
The first-place team in SMECO’s Computer Bowl was from Great Mills High School: coach Nora Blasko, left, Belinda Chiu, Nicholas Tobler, Mychell Ronquillo, and Collin Songy.
For Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, sponsoring the annual Southern Maryland High School Computer Bowl in March is about encouraging the software developers of tomorrow.
Information technology has become a part of everyday life, so electric utilities are dependent on computer equipment to keep the lights on. Utilities like SMECO need experts who can create and maintain software programs, ensuring that computerized systems always run efficiently.
The Computer Bowl was held March 5 at North Point High School in Charles County, and featured close to 70 young computer experts, who were tested for their coding skills and technical knowledge. Sponsors include SMECO, College of Southern Maryland, Booz Allen Hamilton, and the tri-county public school systems.
There were 17 teams from nine high schools. The first round included a written test of the students’ knowledge of computer history, software, and hardware. In round two, teams created programs that were meant to solve specific problems.
A team from Great Mills High School took the top spot. Team members were Belinda Chiu, Mychell Ronquillo, Collin Songy, and Nicholas Tobler, coached by Nora Blasko. Huntingtown High School won second place with team members Jared Brown, Reed Lundegard, Jimmy Nguyen, and Zach Sims, coached by Tom Currier. Another team from Huntingtown took third place with team members Brian Holt, Brandon Jackson, Alex Kastaniotis, and Sam Matthews Placing fourth was Northern High School with team members Jim Kong, William Longsworth, and Justen Serrao, coached by Victoria Longsworth.
Booz Allen Hamilton employees Alan Cooper, Carrie Dalton, Chad Kilgore, and Laurie Lawrence served as judges, along with CSM’s Joe Burgin. Lora Bennett and John Stine of Charles County Public Schools developed the literacy and programming tests used in the competition.
To learn more about SMECO, visit their Leader Member Page.
