A Port Arthur trainer has been honored for developments made in increasing women’ entry in pc science programs.
Memorial Excessive Faculty Profession and Technical Schooling pc science teacher Shalequa Landry on Friday obtained the School Board Superior Placement Laptop Science Feminine Range Award “for reaching excessive feminine illustration in Superior Placement Laptop Science Rules,” in accordance with a information launch.
Landry and Memorial Excessive Faculty have been one in every of simply 832 establishments throughout the nation acknowledged for reaching 50% or greater feminine illustration in Superior Placement Laptop Science Rules or a share of the feminine pc science examination takers assembly or exceeding that of the college’s feminine inhabitants.
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“Laptop science is the supply code of our economic system and a lot of our each day lives,” mentioned School Board Head of the Superior Placement Program Trevor Packer within the launch. “Within the 5 years since we started the (Superior Placement) Laptop Science Feminine Range Award, it has been heartening to see faculties like Memorial and the (Profession and Technical Schooling) campus welcome so many extra ladies into this important area.”
Final yr, simply over 44,800 ladies took the pc science ideas examination — greater than thrice the quantity who took the examination when this system was first supplied in 2017.
“We’re thrilled to congratulate our minority and feminine (Superior Placement) pc science college students and their dynamic trainer for taking this large step towards gender parity in pc science training,” mentioned district Media and Communications Specialist Adrienne Lott within the launch. “We’re honored that our faculty earned this distinction and sit up for seeing these younger ladies and others pursue and obtain success in pc science training and careers.”
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Girls signify simply 24% of the 5 million individuals in computing occupations, in accordance with the discharge.
Landry herself is a product of Port Arthur ISD, graduating from Abraham Lincoln Excessive Faculty in 1992.
“It is a full circle second as an educator who’s giving again to her hometown neighborhood,” Lott mentioned.
The discharge mentioned that “offering feminine college students with entry to pc science programs is vital to making sure gender parity within the business’s high-paying jobs and to driving innovation, creativity and illustration.”
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In keeping with School Board analysis about Superior Placement Laptop Science Rules, feminine college students who take the course in highschool are greater than 5 occasions as more likely to main in pc science in school, in comparison with feminine college students of comparable backgrounds and educational preparation who didn’t take the course.
“General, feminine college students stay underrepresented in our highschool pc science lessons, accounting for simply 33% of (Superior Placement) Laptop Science Rules members and 25% of (Superior Placement) Laptop Science A members,” the discharge mentioned. “At the moment, 51% of the nation’s excessive faculties train foundational pc science. The 1,105 faculties that obtain this yr’s Laptop Science Feminine Range Award function inspirations and fashions for all U.S. excessive faculties.”
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