Although they have never entered a programming competition before, several students from Briarcliff High School won third place at the Siena College Programming Contest, while the rest of the students from Briarcliff scored in the top 10.
The contest is typically held at the college itself, which is located near Albany, but this year the competition was held remotely.
“We were able to arrange to host our part of the contest at Briarcliff High School,” said computer science and mathematics teacher Christopher Lo.
A total of 11 students from the high school entered the contest – all with no prior programming competition experience – and were divided into three teams (Briarcliff-A, Briarcliff-B, and Briarcliff-C). All three teams competed in the green level.
“Programming tasks in the green level are geared towards students enrolled in their first programming classes,” Mr. Lo explained. “Students were given seven programming tasks to complete in a span of two and a half hours. They worked collaboratively and enjoyed some refreshments in between solving problems.”
The newbie programmers triumphed; all three of Briarcliff’s teams scored in the top 10 on the scoreboard, out of 30 teams who competed in the green level. In addition, team Briarcliff-A won 3rd place (tied with another school).
Mr. Lo was very pleased at the results and was happy to share the news with the rest of the school and community.
“We will be getting a trophy in the mail in the next week or so,” he said.
