Trending
PARKERSBURG -- Parkersburg Catholic High School was awarded with the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Female Diversity Award on Wednesday.
Parkersburg Catholic, one of seven schools in West Virginia, earned the distinction for expanding female representation in AP Computer Science courses during the 2019-2020 school year.
A total of 1,119 schools are being recognized for reaching 50 percent or higher female representation in one of the two AP computer science courses, or a percentage of the female computer science examinees meeting or exceeding that of the school's female population.
"I'm exceedingly proud of our students. They exceed expectations every time we ask them to meet a level, they exceed them. That's what our lady Crusaders continue to do, both in the classroom, on the court and on the field. I'm just really proud of them," Parkersburg Catholic High School principal Mary Caren Heffner said. "We try to include science, tech, engineering, art, religion and mathematics throughout our curriculum to integrate them in all our courses. This just confirms that we're doing that right."
In 2019, Governor Jim Justice signed Senate Bill 267 to expand access to computer science education to all students in all schools in the state. West Virginia was the first state to enact such legislation aimed at requiring all students to start their computer science education in elementary school and be exposed to a variety of computer science experiences throughout their K-12 career.
According to national data, women only earn 18 percent of computer science bachelor's degrees in the U.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects computer science research jobs will grow 19 percent by 2026, making it an ideal time for women to pursue computer science degrees. Additionally, the data shows that women are more likely to pursue computer science if they are given the opportunity to explore it in high school.
Tyler Bennett can be reached at tbennett@newsandsentinel.com