Sinclair College and AT&T Announce Miami Valley Teen Coding Challenge

Sinclair Community College and AT&T today announced the Miami Valley Teen Coding Challenge, #Unhackable: Keeping It Secure – a 12-week programming contest for Miami Valley high school students.

The Miami Valley Teen Coding Challenge seeks to equip Miami Valley high school students with 21st century skills via computer science education, provide college and career readiness, solve real-world problems and open the doors of opportunity and creativity. To accomplish this, students will learn to use software-based tools. Using those tools, students will write code and develop their own app related to security. Miami Valley high schools entering teams include: David H. Ponitz Career and Technology Center; Springboro High School; Kettering Fairmont High School, Miami Valley Career Technology Center, Hamilton High School, Stebbins High School, and Centerville High School.

Students met today at the Sinclair Community College Dayton Campus to kick-off the Miami Valley Teen Coding Challenge. Sinclair is the only Ohio community college designated as a National Center of Excellence for Information Assurance Education and Training certified by National Security Agency. Student participants in today’s program will have the opportunity to brainstorm project ideas and hear from industry leaders including Jeff Hughes of cyber technology company Tenet 3 and Chris Hahn of website design firm Catapult Creative.

Through the remainder of the 12-week period the students will learn to use coding software platforms to create their apps. The apps must be focused on improving data security and will be judged on quality, the potential impact on the Miami Valley region, execution and creativity. A team of Miami Valley area leaders will judge the students’ work, and winners will be announced at a finale event on December 7.

“AT&T's commitment to technology innovation and high school students in Ohio grows out of our company's investment of nearly $1.5 billion in our wireless and wireline networks between 2013 and 2015,” said Adam Grzybicki, President, AT&T Ohio. “By encouraging students in the Miami Valley area to learn to code and explore mobile app development we are spotlighting the enormous demand for developers and engineers needed to create the software that will drive our mobile economy.”

"One of the major workforce development questions today is how to fix the tech talent shortage,” said Steve Johnson, President, Sinclair Community College.  “Colleges and companies must partner to introduce non-traditional methods to stimulate interest and talent in tech fields. The Miami Valley Teen Coding Challenge is one way that AT&T, Sinclair Community College and the Miami Valley Tech Prep Consortium are working together to promote computer science education, prepare high school students for college and careers, and enable them to express their creativity."

To learn more please visit www.sinclair.edu/enroll/new-student-center/miami-valley-teen-coding-challenge/ and to join the conversation on social media please use the hashtag #Unhackable.