Prospect Hill Academy Charter School (PHA), a K-12 college preparatory school in Cambridge and Somerville, is at the forefront of promoting and supporting the participation of young women and girls of color in computer science and technology-related fields.
During the month of January, the school and its students received three noteworthy national accolades. A PHA student team won the Congressional App Challenge, the school again earned the College Board AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award, and two PHA students were honored with NCWIT (National Center for Women in Technology) Aspirations in Computing National Awards. “PHA STEMinists are leading the way for Generation Z to have a viable presence of women of color in the STEM fields,” says Angela F. Allen, PHA Head of School.
Representative Ayanna Pressley named a team of three PHA high school students as the winner of the Congressional App Challenge in Massachusetts’ 7th district. Senior Syalomee Pradhan and juniors Lavanya Goel and Victoria Eduardo won the challenge for developing an app called Opportune, designed to help students locate after school activities and get involved in their community. Over 10,000 students participated in the 2019 Congressional App Challenge, creating and submitting nearly 2,200 apps.
PHA earned the 2019 College Board AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving high female representation in AP Computer Science Principles. Of the 20,000 institutions nationwide that offer AP courses, only 818 (4%) achieved this important result during the 2018-2019 school year.
PHA juniors Adriana Alcindor and Lavanya Goel were recently honored with NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) awards, recognizing their aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing. Adriana is one of only 40 national award winners, and Lavanya is one of 360 honorable mentions. They were selected from an applicant pool of more than 4,700 young women across the country.
Photo 1 caption:
Left to right: Prospect Hill Academy junior Victoria Eduardo, senior Syalomee Pradhan, and junior Lavanya are the winners of the Congressional App Challenge in Massachusetts’ 7th district.
Photo 2 caption:
Prospect Hill Academy juniors and NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) National Award recipients Adriana Alcindor (left) and Lavanya Goel (right).