Columbia Area Career Center Students win NCWIT computing awards

Columbia Area Career Center (CACC) Web Design/Graphic Design student Michelle Algya (Heritage Academy) received the 2015 St. Louis and Southern Illinois Regional NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing from the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT). She was also named a national runner-up in the competition. 

Columbia Area Career Center Geospatial Information Science student Allyssa Johnson (Southern Boone High School) and Computer Programming student Katherine Lydon (Rock Bridge High School) received recognition in the same competition.

The CACC students are three of only 23 young women to receive the award throughout high schools across the St. Louis and Southern Illinois region. Nominated by their instructors, they were selected for their demonstrated, outstanding aptitude and interest in information technology and computing, solid leadership ability, excellent academic history and plans for post-secondary education. They were honored at an awards ceremony earlier this month at the Millennium Center on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus.

The award, sponsored by Bank of America, Bloomberg, Microsoft, Intel and the National Center for Women & Information Technology with local Missouri sponsors including the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Monsanto and the Missouri University of Science and Technology, recognizes young high school women for their computing-related achievements and interests in an effort to encourage more young women to choose careers in technology.

The National Center for Women & Information Technology is a non-profit coalition of over 450 prominent corporations, academic institutions, government agencies and nonprofits working to improve U.S. innovation, competitiveness, and workforce sustainability by increasing women’s participation in Information Technology. NCWIT’s work spans K-12 and higher education through industry and academic careers. 

Michelle Algya

Alyssa Johnson