AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING - WISCONSIN AFFILIATE AWARD CELEBRATION - NCWIT

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AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING - WISCONSIN AFFILIATE AWARD CELEBRATION - NCWIT
WISCONSIN AFFILIATE AWARD CELEBRATION

                                           AWARD FOR
                                          ASPIRATIONS
                                        IN COMPUTING
                                                          #ncwitwi

                        2021
  May 16, 2021
2:00pm – 3:30pm
                       NCWIT
AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING - WISCONSIN AFFILIATE AWARD CELEBRATION - NCWIT
We would like to congratulate the
    honorees for this year’s Aspirations
    in Computing awards!
    PDS is a proud supporter of women in technology
    and the National Center for Women in Information
    Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing (AiC)
    Program.

          Visit our career page at pdsit.net/careers to learn more
         about becoming one of the amazing women on our team.

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AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING - WISCONSIN AFFILIATE AWARD CELEBRATION - NCWIT
Wisconsin Affiliate
                                         AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING
                                         an NCWIT AWARD

AWARDS FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING 2021                                    AGENDA FOR NCWIT-WI
                 TABLE OF CONTENTS                                   VIRTUAL AWARD RECOGNITION EVENT
 Gold Sponsor - PDS, Inc                                2              May 16, 2021 2:00pm – 3:30pm
 Table of Contents; Agenda                              3
                                                             Welcome & Introduction, Virtual Ground Rules
 About NCWIT and Aspirations in Computing               4
                                                             Cynthia Short, Lexico (Moderator)                     2:00-2:05
 Award Recipient Impacts                                5
                                                             Speaker
 NCWIT-WI BOD; Aspirations Volunteers                   6    Bridget Quinn, Regional Affiliate Manager, NCWIT      2:05-2:10
 Words to the Wise - Encouragement for you              7    Speaker
 Address: Gold Sponsor: PDS, Inc John Miller                 Holly Baumgart, VP Information Technology, Sargento   2:10-2:25
 Executive Vice President                                8   Educator Awards
 Keynote Bio: Holly Baumgart, VP of IT, Sargento         9   Cynthia Short, Moderator                              2:25-2:30
 NCWIT Rep Bio: Bridget Quinn, Aspirationss RAM         10   High School Awards                                    2:30-3:00
                                                             State Rising Stars
 Aspirations Alumnae Well Wishes                     11-12      State Honorable Mentions
 Educator Awards                                     13-15      State Winners
 Aspirations Awards - About                             16      National Honorable Mentions
 Aspirations Awards - National Awardees              17-18      National Winner
 Aspirations Awards - Wisconsin Winners              19-30   Alumnae Q&A Panel
 Aspirations Awards - Wisconsin Honorable Mentions   30-36   Megan Cindric, Moderator                              3:00-3:20
                                                             Thank You to Our Sponsors & Closing Remarks
 Aspirations Awards - Wisconsin Rising Stars         37-39
                                                             Cynthia Short, Moderator                              3:20-3:30
 Academic Community Activities                       40-46
 NCWIT-WI All Sponsors and Supporters                   47
 Silver Sponsors                                     48-49
 Bronze Sponsors                                     50-51
 NCWIT National Sponsors                                52
 WI Academic Alliance Members Program Flyers         53-73
 Cover – Inside and Outside                          75-76

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AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING - WISCONSIN AFFILIATE AWARD CELEBRATION - NCWIT
ABOUT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR
    WOMEN & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (NCWIT)
    NCWIT is a non-profit community of more than 1,400 universities, companies, non-profits,
    and government organizations nationwide working to increase the meaningful participation of
    girls and women — at the intersections of race, ethnicity, class, age, sexual orientation, and
    disability status — in the field of computing. NCWIT equips change leaders with resources
    for taking action in recruiting, retaining, and advancing women from K–12 education through
    careers. Find out more at www.ncwit.org.

                                                                  ABOUT NCWIT ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING (AIC)
                                                      NCWIT AiC changes what’s possible for women in technology from K-12 through career
                                                       by offering the kind of encouragement that combats isolation, enables long-term per-
                                                    sistence, opens doors, and changes lives. AiC uses program elements that spark interest
                                                       in computing (AspireIT); recognizes and celebrates women’s technical aspirations and
                                                          abilities, as well as the educators who support them (AiC Award Recognitions); and,
                                                    provides an expansive, supportive network (AiC Community). Find out more about each of
                                                                                              these program elements at www.aspirations.org.

             HISTORICAL INFORMATION OF NCWIT-WI ASPIRATIONS 2012-2021
     Wisconsin Affiliate Launch Year: 2011-2012
     Alumnae Base: total unique honorees through 2020: 418 (some are multi-year honorees)
     Number of National Honorees: 27 (5 were awarded national recognition in each of two years)
     Number of Collegiate Award honorees: 1
     Number of Aspire IT grant honorees: 6 (one has received 2 grants), 5 unique honorees

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AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING - WISCONSIN AFFILIATE AWARD CELEBRATION - NCWIT
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AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING - WISCONSIN AFFILIATE AWARD CELEBRATION - NCWIT
NCWIT-WI AFFILIATE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CHAIR:                                                                     ALUMNAE ENGAGEMENT
Joe Kmoch - JK Consulting (ncwit.wi@gmail.com)                             Rachael Wiley - Guardian Software Systems/UW-Stout
                                                                           student
VICE CHAIR:                                                                Megan Choy - Northwestern Mutual/UW-Madison student
Cheryl Nowak - TAPCO
                                                                           COMMUNITY OUTREACH
DIRECTORS:                                                                 Megan Cindric - Refinitiv

ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING APPLICATIONS AND                                  DIVERSITY ENGAGEMENT
REVIEW                                                                     Lita Mallett - Milwaukee Excellence Charter School
Joe Kmoch - JK Consulting
                                                                           FINANCE/TREASURER
ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING AWARDS EVENT                                      Christine Gay - Advocate Aurora Health
Cheryl Nowak - TAPCO (chair)
Sharon Skinner - Alverno College                                           MARKETING AND DIGITAL PRESENCE
Sharyn Warren - Alverno College                                            Steven Hartl - PDS Inc
                                                                           John Miller - PDS Inc
ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT - COLLEGIATE                                           Joan Nordick - PDS Inc
Laura Schmidt - Milwaukee Tech Hub Coalition                               Shalisha Porter - Firefly Multimedia

ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT - K-12                                                 SPONSORSHIP
Molly Schuld - Northwestern Mutual                                         Mary Acuna - UW-Whitewater
                                                                           Dele Ojelabi - Comcentia
ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT - ASPIREIT
Tina Gleason - Golda Meir School                                           AT LARGE DIRECTORS:
                                                                           Kathy Lang - Kathy J. Lang & Associates
                                                                           Tina Rock - Advanced Hires

                                                  ASPIRATIONS VOLUNTEERS
       The year-round Aspirations program is very dependent upon many volunteers who are involved with activities to help our NCWIT-WI
    Aspirations program deliver a quality program to our high school young women. Support in the application process and reviewing appli-
                        cations are among these volunteer activities. We’re sincerely grateful to our 2020-21 volunteers.
      Denise Accuardi, ManpowerGroup                 Doris Dix, Northwestern Mutual                  Tacey Lenyard, Alverno - Pivot your Skills
      Terry Adams, ManpowerGroup                     Shawna Ferguson, Alverno - Pivot your Skills    Janet Lucas, Direct Supply
      Anna Aiuppa, Direct Supply                     Sara Feuling, AEM                               Kate Marino, AiC Alumna
      Anjali Ambat, ManpowerGroup                    Juan Francisco Fiallo, ManpowerGroup            Sanika Mody, ManpowerGroup
      Shalini Badhwar , Direct Supply                Carly Fristoe, Northwestern Mutual              Cassie Nooyen, AiC Alumna
      Kathleen Baert, Direct Supply                  Harold Frye, Direct Supply                      Kim Phillip, AiC Alumna
      Ieechia Baldwin, ManpowerGroup                 Donna Gavin, UW-Platteville                     Joni Reese, Zonta
      Michele Berkes, Direct Supply                  Julie Gerber, ManpowerGroup                     Christina Roth, ManpowerGroup
      Matthew Burback, ManpowerGroup                 Ruth Harper, ManpowerGroup                      Cindi Short, Lexico Consulting
      Nafessa Burdine, ManpowerGroup                 Michelle Hobbins, Carthage College              Karen Smith, Codeworks LLC
      Lakenya Cain, ManpowerGroup                    Sharon Ihm, ManpowerGroup                       Mariana Thompson-Peters, AiC Alumna
      Christine Cheng, UW-Milwaukee                  Hayley Jamiola, AiC Alumna                      Libby Walther, AiC Alumna
      Beth Clarke, CESA 2 Technology                 Wade Krogwold, Direct Supply                    Ann Wendt, We Energies
      Nicole Conrad, Bostik                          Shilpa L, ManpowerGroup                         Jennifer Young, The Kern Family Foundation
      Rebecca Cook, ManpowerGroup                    CyndiKaye Lambach, WCTC                         Lynn Young, Direct Supply
      Eileen Crane, Independent Consultant           Jenna Lara, PDS
      Amber Dierking, Direct Supply                  Carrie Lefeber, AiC Alumna
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AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING - WISCONSIN AFFILIATE AWARD CELEBRATION - NCWIT
WORDS TO THE WISE
THE FOLLOWING PAGES INCLUDE EXPERIENCES AND ADVICE
     FOR YOU FROM PROFESSIONALS AND STUDENTS.
            PLEASE READ THEIR COMMENTS.

 John Miller, Executive Vice President and General Manager, PDS
 Gold sponsor of NCWIT-WI Aspirations

 Holly Baumgart, Vice President of Information Technology, Sargento

 Bridget Quinn, NCWIT Regional Affiliate Manager

 Encouragement and Advice from Aspirations Alumnae

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AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING - WISCONSIN AFFILIATE AWARD CELEBRATION - NCWIT
JOHN MILLER
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER

                                       Congratulations        people who supported your spark. Make sure they
                                        to the girls being    know their contributions and thank them. Allow them
                                        acknowledged          to take a bow as we’d have them do if this was a
                                        today as NCWIT        physical ceremony.
                                        Aspirations in
                                       Computing award        As you look forward, I envision your spark becoming
                                      winners! It’s a         a blazing inferno! By your very acknowledgement
                                    sincere honor for         here today, we see not only your spark, but we see
                                 me to join others in         your vision for the future. Here at my company, our
                            congratulating you on this        CEO Asif Naseem has a saying, “Focus on what’s
    prestigious recognition. The reason my company            possible, not just on what’s predictable.” This means
    and I became involved with NCWIT Aspirations in           always focus on the best possible outcome instead of
    Computing was for both our daughters and for our          the expected outcome. You cannot achieve what you
    community. We want a better world for them. We            don’t pursue. Keep your focus there and I promise
    want a better world for you. We want your hopes and       you that your possibilities are boundless.
    dreams to be enabled by removing gender and other
    barriers that can stand in your way. As my company        Finally, be the spark for someone else. A blazing
    employs hundreds of IT professionals, I embrace           inferno can’t exist without starting with a spark. Be
    the role and responsibility we have to ensure             the spark. Without knowing it, you likely already are
    equitable opportunities exist for you. I commit to        as many eyes are on you watching the way you live,
    you we’ll do our part. But the biggest movement           learn, and work, but also by your recognition today.
    will come from the very people being recognized           I’d encourage you not to settle for that. Look behind
    here today…YOU! You represent hope, tenacity, trail       you to others in your school, community, and family
    blazing, and courage. In doing so you not only raise      and be the spark for them. Help them find their own
    the opportunity for yourself, but also for all of those   spark by showing them yours. Choose to be a source
    around you.                                               for them as they aspire for their own dreams.

    You see, when we are asked to review candidates           So, as you celebrate today, my hope for you is to
    for these awards, we look at a variety of factors from    look forward with confidence, look beside you with
    your spark, to your experience, to your plans, to your    gratitude, and look behind you and extend your hand.
    creativity, and to your ability to overcome adversity.    Then…look in the mirror and be proud!
    Each are important characteristics and reading each
    of your stories brought tears, smiles, and inspiration
    to many of us who read them. But that spark? Let me       Congratulations Award Winners!
    elaborate on the importance…                              John Miller
                                                              EVP & GM, PDS
    Your spark is what ignited your interest. And with        NCWIT Wisconsin Affiliate – Board Member
    that I implore you to look beside you to the very

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AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING - WISCONSIN AFFILIATE AWARD CELEBRATION - NCWIT
HOLLY BAUMGART
    VP IT SARGENTO FOODS

                                      Holly Baumgart       Prior to joining Sargento Foods, Holly was an
                                      is a dynamic         executive at Harley-Davidson Motor Company where
                                       and passionate      she was responsible for IT at 23 offices and plants
                                       technology          worldwide. As a CPA, Holly managed large teams at
                                      executive.           Ernst & Young where she advised over 50 companies
                                      Holly has 20 years   on IT security and risk management. She possesses
                                    of global technology   global perspective; having traveled and worked in over
                                  leadership and           80 countries.
                               consulting experience in
                           multiple industry sectors.      CREDENTIALS
She quickly builds trusting and open relationships with
others. Holly has superior influence, communication        Harvard University, Candidate for Master of Science in
and presentation skills. Holly excels at strategically     Sustainability
and cost-effectively delivering business strategies        Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern
through technology leadership.                             University, MBA
                                                           University of Notre Dame, Master of Science in
Holly is a published technology leader with                Accountancy
a successful track record for leading large-               University of Illinois, Bachelor of Science in
scale, complex technology-enabled business                 Information Systems
transformations. Most recently, at Sargento Foods Inc,     Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Information
she successfully completed a greenfield                    Systems Auditor (CISA)
implementation of SAP S/4 Hana across 13 end-to-
end business processes. Holly is responsible for           BOARD EXPERIENCE
all aspects of Information Technology at Sargento,
including business intelligence, cyber security, and       Chicago Commons, Governing Board Member 2008 to
data leadership.                                           Present
                                                           Feeding Mouths, Filling Minds, Founding Board
Holly has demonstrated capabilities in strategic           Member 2011 to Present
planning, building high performing teams, project          Koinadugu Collage, Board of Trustees 2017 to Present
management, implementing best practices, building          i.c.Stars, Board Member 2018 to Present
innovation capabilities and continuous improvement
programs. Having served in finance, sales and
marketing leadership roles, Holly possesses cross-
functional business acumen.

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AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING - WISCONSIN AFFILIATE AWARD CELEBRATION - NCWIT
Bridget Quinn
     Regional Affiliate Manager,
     Aspirations in Computing Program, NCWIT

                                     Bridget is    Bridget coordinates multiple program
                                      passionate   areas across the country. The best part
                                      about STEM   of her job is working to inspire and
                                     education,    encourage her teams, helping them to
                                    the            support and celebrate women and girls in
                                  environment,     computing.
                               and creating
                         powerful youth            A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Bridget
      development opportunities for girls.         holds a Master’s degree in Applied
      She began her career as a Field              Environmental Science from University
      Scientist, working on environmental and      College Dublin, Ireland. When she isn’t
      geotechnical remediation and investigation   working, she’s likely chasing after her two
      projects.                                    small children, who are likely chasing after
                                                   their new dog, Rosy.
      Bridget transitioned into youth
      development and education, serving as the
      STEM Program Specialist for Girl Scouts,
      and later as an Undergraduate Instructor
      and Advisor.

      Her eclectic experiences in science and
      education have fostered a true desire to
      help girls conquer the gender gap and
      realize that science and technology are
      awesome. As a Regional Affiliate Manager
      for NCWIT Aspirations in Computing,

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ASPIRATIONS ALUMNAE
                        How has the award impacted you?
      Tenzin Chokyl
        Madison East HS 2017, UW-Madison
        Coming into college I wish I had known       meetings. I know I was pretty overwhelmed my
        how to time manage as well as had the        first semester. I got the hang of setting a fixed
      opportunity to play around with more           schedule for myself so I can have all my school
    programming languages during high school.        work and projects completed on time. I would
Time management is a crucial skill to have in        really recommend looking into notion, this has
college since there are so many distractions         saved me throughout college and kept me on
whether it be your social life or organization       track with my work.

      Megan Choy
        New Berlin Eisenhower Middle/High School 2019, UW-Madison
        NCWIT Wisconsin has connected me with        from these people that has led me to succeed
        a network of like-minded and inspirational   in my courses, internships, and now my college
       women who are also passionate for             career. One of the most important lessons I had
      STEM. As I grow older, I am now able to use    learned throughout my high school and college
    NCWIT-WI to inspire other young women who        career is the importance of networking. Through
are on a similar journey - to unveil and thrive      connections, I was able to find internships,
in our passion for STEM. I owe many thanks           speaking opportunities, college advice, and so
to the mentors I had in high school and beyond       much more. NCWIT is a wonderful network of
who are connected with the NCWIT network. It         successful women who want to build each other
was thanks to the encouragement and support          up - take advantage of it!

       Rachel Hunter
       East Troy HS 2016, MSOE 2020
       One thing I wish I had known when I           finish my degree while I was in college. This
       graduated high school was the value           is an amazing community of supportive
     of confidence. When you really know             women!
 something, speak up and be proud to share
your knowledge. Being part of the NCWIT
community helped keep me motivated to

       Muskan Kanungo
       Wauwatosa West HS 2018, MSOE
         What I wish I had known earlier is          time and effort to develop. While studying
        that interpersonal skills are more           for technical skills, don’t forget your
       important than technical skills.              magnificent personality. Leveraging advanced
    Networking is such an underrated                 interpersonal skills can help you market
skill when we are programmed to believe              yourself to potential bosses, friends, etc.
that a good GPA can make or break your
career. Technical skills are easy to learn,
but interpersonal skills often take more
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Carrie Lefeber
            Laconia HS 2019, UW-Platteville
             While my major may not be computer          related problems. I wish I would’ve known the
             science directly, I have come to realize    importance of computer science throughout
           that computer technology plays a big role     the engineering disciplines in high school.
      in all engineering disciplines. I am currently
     in a thermodynamics class where we use a
     computer software to help us solve our math

           Kate Martino
            New Berlin Eisenhower Middle/High School 2019, Augustana
             NCWIT Wisconsin has benefited me by         goals. NCWIT encouraged me to pursue my
             connecting me with a group of strong,       interest in technology when I was hesitant. With
            passionate, brilliant young women with       the connections I have made and the knowledge
         similar interests as myself. The ambition and   I have gained through being a part of this group
     grace that I am surrounded with in this community   I am happy to say that I am now integrating
     is astounding and inspires me every day to work     technology in my academic and future goals by
     towards my academic, personal, and professional     pursuing a major in Data Science/ Analytics.

           Madeline Moran
            Whitefish Bay HS 2019, Loyola
           NCWIT Wisconsin has benefited me              community of individuals like me out there
           by connecting me with a community of          striving to pursue degrees and innovation in
          women and non-binary individuals who           technology. By engaging with my interests
       share my same interests in technology and         in Computer Science and particularly with
     wanting to use and create new technological         groups like NCWIT and Girls Who Code early, I
     advancements for the benefit of others. It          found I was really well set up to begin college
     has benefited me to know there is a great           courses.

           Abby Myers
            Mukwonago HS 2019, Michigan Tech
             The most transformational experience        glimpse into what all of those programming
            in high school related to my interest        skills could be used for.
          in computing and related technologies
      was... getting my first internship! My
     internship didn’t just teach me tons of new
     programming skills. It also gave me a

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ABOUT THIS AWARD
The NCWIT AiC Educator Award identifies exemplary formal and informal ed-
ucators who play a pivotal role in encouraging 9th-12th grade students who
self-identify as women, genderqueer, or non-binary to explore their interest in
computing and technology. The award recognizes these educators for their ef-
forts to promote gender equity in computing.

This year three awardees, a winner and two honorable mentions, were chosen
from applications submitted by Wisconsin educators who have endorsed at least
one Aspirations candidate. The application consists primarily of three essays
related to their teaching style and involvement in strongly encouraging young
women learn and be actively involved in IT.

Each Wisconsin Affiliate Educator Award Winner and Honorable Mention re-
ceives:
 • recognition at a Regional Affiliate Award event
 • increased visibility in their school district and community
 • NCWIT resources and promotional items
 • an engraved award for both the Educator and their school
 • eligible to apply for up to $750 in professional development funds

Find out more at www.aspirations.org/recognitions/AiCEducatorAward

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Mark Taylor, Milwaukee Excellence Charter School
             NCWIT-WI Affiliate Aspirations Educator Winner for 2021

              Dr. Taylor is a life-long computer        Milwaukee Excellence assist all of our students
             hobbyist and teacher who has found         in taking AP CSP during their Sophomore year.
           his life-calling in teaching High School     Once given access, we know our students will
        Computer Science. Dr. Taylor is committed to    be the leaders of the next generation.
     expanding access to high-quality CS education
     to traditionally underserved students, creating    His greatest accomplishments are those
     opportunities to learn programming, robotics,      students that enter his class with minimal
     CAD, and application engineering.                  knowledge of and interest in computers, and
                                                        graduate with brains full of dreams about how
     With an unflinching belief that Computer           to incorporate Computer Science into future
     Science is the gateway to success in any           careers, families and communities.
     career, and that all students can be successful
     in the field, Dr. Taylor and all of the staff at

             Samantha Kable, New London High School
             NCWIT-WI Affiliate Aspirations Educator Honorable Mention for 2021

             Samantha is a 22 year veteran of            Trigonometry, Exploring Computer Science,
            the School District of New London;           Introduction to Computer Programming, and AP
          she has been predominantly teaching            Computer Science Principles.
      mathematics until she was interested in
     adding her computer science to her teaching         Samantha has been the advisor for New
     degree. She holds a bachelor’s degree in            London Math League for over 15 years and is
     Music and Mathematics Education as well as a        looking forward to transitioning to exclusively
     master’s degree in Education.                       teaching computer science. She is extremely
                                                         passionate about the importance of technology
     In 2019, she received her WI 1405 Computer          as a 21st century skill for today’s youth.
     Science License from MTEC. Samantha
     has taught Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2/

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Jim Ferwerda, Mukwonago High School
                NCWIT-WI Affiliate Aspirations Educator Honorable Mention for 2021

                 Jim has been teaching Computer          experiences in the community.
                Science and Math at Mukwonago
              High School for more than 35 years.        During his many years of teaching, he has
          His professional passion is to enhance         long advocated for the inclusion of females
        student learning by integrating high impact      into IT related fields, and has found the IT
        educational practices into his classroom,        Academy an effective tool for increasing
        especially in CS and IT. He was instrumental     female participation in the CS/IT world.
        is envisioning and creating Mukwonago
        High School’s innovative IT Academy,             When he’s not helping students learn and
        designed to give students personalized           grow, he might be found in Ghana helping
        learning opportunities in preparation for IT     terminally ill or disabled children live better
        professions, enhanced by internship and job      lives through West African Mercy Ministries.

                           PREVIOUS AWARD WINNERS
• Alyssa Basthemer, Kettle Moraine High School of Health Sciences, 2020 Winner
• Mary Walz, Sauk Prairie High School, 2020 Honorable Mention
• Olivia Dachel, Merrill HS, 2019 Winner
• Brenda Larson, Menomonee Falls HS, 2019 Honorable Mention
• Laura Masbruch, Whitewater HS, 2019 Honorable Mention
• Aaron Chamberlain, New Berlin Eisenhower Middle/High School, 2018 Winner
• Jim Ferwerda, Mukwonago HS, 2018 Honorable Mention
• Aaron Pavao, Waunakee HS, 2017 Winner
• Rose Hoffman, Waukesha Catholic Memorial HS, 2017 Honorable Mention
• Linnea Logan, Whitefish Bay, HS, 2016 Winner
• Dean Johnson, Fort Atkinson HS, 2015 Winner
• Rose Hoffman, Waukesha Catholic Memorial HS, 2014 Winner
• Tom Wozniak, Rufus King IB HS, 2013 Winner
• Bob Getka, Janesville Parker HS, 2012 Winner

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ABOUT THE AWARD FOR ASPIRATIONS IN
                  COMPUTING (AWARD FOR AIC)
     The NCWIT Award for AiC honors 9th-12th grade students who
     self-identify as women, genderqueer, or non-binary for their
     computing-related achievements and interests, and encourages
     them to pursue their passions. These award recipients are then
     inducted into the AiC Community — a phenomenal network
     of 20,000 technical individuals who self-identify as women,
     genderqueer, or non-binary who receive many exclusive benefits.
     Through Award Recognitions and the Community, AiC reaches
     all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the
     U.S. Virgin Islands, all U.S. military bases overseas, and Canada.

     Find out more at www.aspirations.org/recognitions/AiCAward.

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NATIONAL WINNERS &
                                     HONORABLE MENTIONS

        Tania Mishra, Brookfield Central High School
        2021 National Winner; 2021 Wisconsin Affiliate Winner
        Tania is a junior at Brookfield Central.   the summer of 2020, first on a mainframe
       She discovered her passion for              team, and currently on a full stack
     technology in sixth grade. Since then, she    development team. This fall, she led an
 has participated in a Science and Engineering     introduction to web development program
Fair as well as ProjectCSGirls, earning multiple   for middle school girls in partnership with
awards. In her sophomore year, she took Data       MSOE. Throughout high school, she plans
Structures through Marquette University, and       to continue on the Computer Science path
she is currently taking courses at MSOE. She       and encourage other girls to explore the
has been interning at Northwestern Mutual since    field of technology.

        Olivia Eckes, Whitefish Bay High School
        2021 National Honorable Mention; 2021 Wisconsin Affiliate Winner
         Olivia, fascinated by computer science,   science and healthcare, solves problems
        has coded in platforms including           regarding technical operations, and fosters
      Python and JavaScript, participating in      interests in computer graphics, pursuing
  individually-oriented robotics competitions      this independently through college-level
numerous times, and plans on attending college;    courses. Olivia is a technological Lab-
working towards becoming well-versed in            Aid for her Library Media Center, serving
understanding coding language by enrolling         the IT Department, creating tutorials for
in AP Computer Science Java. Olivia enjoys         classes, and researching new technology
designing coding projects and understands that     for classroom use. She is an active leader
investing in computer science yields numerous      in coding club; guiding others pursuing
technologically-centered degrees. Olivia pursues   computer science.
fields interconnected between computer

                                                                                                 17
NATIONAL WINNERS &
                                               HONORABLE MENTIONS
             Ellie Ertl, Cedarburg High School
             2021 National Honorable Mention; 2021 Wisconsin Affiliate Winner
            Ellie, a junior at Cedarburg High         to travel to MIT with the Zero Robotics team,
            School, discovered a passion for          and their code was run on the International
          computer science freshman year              Space Station. They took first place in the
       when she combined her passions for             world! Ellie attended a pre-engineering
     problem-solving and logical thinking. She        summer camp at MSOE and a women in
     has completed Computer Concepts 2 and            computer science program at Michigan Tech.
     AP Computer Science A. She is enrolled in        She hopes to embark on a National Geographic
     Cybersecurity. She works with the Bulldog        Student Expedition to Silicon Valley. Ellie plans
     Coding Club volunteering with younger            to pursue a career in computer science.
     students. Last year, Ellie got the opportunity

             Rucheng Pan, Brookfield East High School
             2021 National Honorable Mention; 2021 Wisconsin Affiliate Winner
              Rucheng is a senior at Brookfield       Black, Indigenous and People of Color-BIPOC
             East High School. She is currently       female students. She has been engaged in
           a technology intern at Northwestern        several organizations and extracurriculars
       Mutual. She was introduced to                  regarding artificial intelligence. In her free time,
     programming through Girls Who Code,              she enjoys swimming, learning languages, and
     learning languages including HTML/CSS            playing tennis. She wants to attend a 4-year
     and Python. These experiences encouraged         college and double-major in computer science
     her to take college courses in computer          and public policy. In the future, she would like
     science.She has always been interested in        to pursue a career in artificial intelligence and
     technology and has hosted programming            scientific research.
     camps throughout Milwaukee geared towards

             Grace Vanden Heuvel, Hortonville High School
             2021 National Honorable Mention; 2021 Wisconsin Affiliate Winner
              Grace is a junior and has the           AP Computer Science as a freshman. She is
             wonderful opportunity to have three      part of a Computer Science Advisory Board to
           IT internships, one through her school,    bring computer science further into her school
       another though a local organization, NEW       district. She also mentors her community’s
     Digital Alliance, and a third as part of a       Girls Who Code Club and computer science
     Youth Apprenticeship program at SECURA           clubs at her district’s middle schools.
     Insurance. She was on her school’s FIRST
     Robotics FTC team for two years and took

18
2021 WISCONSIN AFFILIATE WINNERS

             Nora Alsum                                                        Anna Arnett
               Laconia High School                                              Cedarburg High School
               Nora is a senior at Laconia High School.                         Anna is a student at Cedarburg High
               She has always enjoyed working with
                                                                               School who has taken several computer
              technology, but didn’t discover her passion
                                                                              science lessons online and continues to
            for computer science until her junior year
                                                                            take classes in high school. Her hopes for
         when she took a computer science course at her
 school. She has taken AP Computer Science Principles                  the future are to major in Computer Science and
 and AP Computer Science A to advance her computing                have a career as a Software Engineer or a remote job
 knowledge. In addition, Nora is a member of National              in computer science. She enjoys coding in her free
 Honors Society, Future Business Leaders of America,               time and hopes to continue being successful in her
 and Class Commission. After high school, Nora plans to            computer science classes at school including intro
 go to college to major in computer science and pursue a           to block-based programming, intro to text-based
 career as a software engineer.                                    programming, and AP Computer Science A next year.

            Helen Bartels                                                      Julianna Bauknecht
              New Berlin Eisenhower Middle/High School                           Antigo High School
               Helen has been interested in science and en-
                                                                                Julianna, a sophomore at Antigo, is
               gineering since elementary school, however,
                                                                                truly passionate about technology. She
              her first exposure to computer science was
                                                                               has earned twenty-two credits towards
             an introductory CS class in 7th grade. After that,
                                                                             the Computer Support Specialist program
          she was hooked and has since taken countless CS
                                                                          at Northcentral Technical College, with
    courses. Her interest in engineering and computers led
                                                                    nine currently in progress. She has completed
to her join FIRST Robotics Team 5148, where she has contin-
                                                                    courses such as Computer Fundamentals 1 and
ued to pursue her interest in both areas and has now held
                                                                    2, Troubleshooting, and Introduction to Computer
several leadership positions, including Business Captain and
                                                                    Support with a 4.0 GPA. Julianna hopes to receive
mentoring a local FLL team. Last year she participated in an
                                                                    her diploma for her degree before the end of
internship at AT&T. Additionally, she is in her second year of a
                                                                    her time in high school. After high school, she
Market Research Internship through Aurora WDC and began
                                                                    hopes to attend a four-year college for a degree in
a Software Development Internship at IIT-SourceTech last
                                                                    journalism.
spring. She plans on majoring in Industrial Engineering.

              Kayla Behnke                                                    Naisha Bepar
               Kimberly High School                                             New Berlin Eisenhower Middle/High School
              Kayla found a passion for                                           Naisha is a senior at New Berlin Eisenhower
              computing after she took her first                                 High School. She has been exposed to coding
             animation class during her freshman                                through the organization: Girls Who Code,
                                                                              as well as various computing courses she
           year of high school. She found that                              has taken. She has volunteered at the Marquette
       she loves the programming aspect of                             University Girls Who Code chapter, hoping to give back to
 technology because of the logic, creativity, and                  the community that has given her so much. Naisha has used
 challenges that they bring. She especially loves                  Python, HTML, CSS, Javascript, and Java. She is currently a
 computing because of the way it combines logic,                   high school intern at Northwestern Mutual, where she has
                                                                   worked since June of 2019. She utilizes software testing
 creativity, and common sense. Kayla plans on                      practices every day and helps lead the annual “hi, Tech”
 attending UW Eau Claire to pursue a degree in                     Minicamp at her internship. She will be attending college
 Computer Science to continue to bring a positive                  and majoring in computer science. She aspires to become
 impact in society through technology.                             an influential figure in this world through her hard-work and
                                                                   skills.

                                                                                                                                   19
2021 WISCONSIN AFFILIATE WINNERS

                Destiny Boone                                              Lila Branchaw
                  Madison East High School                                   Waunakee High School
                 Destiny is currently a high school                         Lila is a Junior at Waunakee
                 junior. Her technology experienc-                          Community High School and
                es are editing photos with Adobe                          High School Student Leader of her
              Photoshop, doing graphic design                          Community’s Middle School Creative
          with Adobe Illustrator, coding a website              Coders Club. She is always inspired to learn
       with Notepad++, making songs with Able-                  and improve her skills all while encouraging
       ton Live, and programming with Python                    others to do the same. In the future, she hopes
       and Liclipse. She is in the ITA and STEM                 to apply Computer Science concepts to chemical
       programs. She hopes to earn a bachelor’s                 engineering in order to help negate the negative
       degree from UW-Madison but is undecided                  effects of global warming and make the world a
       on a major at this time.
                                                                healthier place.

               Eleanor Certalic                                             Jovita D’Souza
                 New Berlin West Middle/High School                          Bay Port High School
                  Eleanor Certalic is a sophomore in                           Jovita is a sophomore in high school in
                 high school and has a great passion                           Wisconsin. She loves running, playing violin,
                                                                             languages, and science. During intermediate
                for computer science. Eleanor wants                        and middle school years, she was exposed to
             to use her computer science skills in the                   computer science, engineering, and astronomy.
       real world and would like her college major to             By attending camps held through her school and nearby
                                                                 colleges she became fascinated by the world of computers.
     be IT related to find a profession in the computer          She continued to pursue this throughout middle school
     science field. Eleanor’s passion for computer sci-          and now high school. In her freshman year she attended a
     ence started when she was young and continues               NASA space program held in Huntsville, Alabama. There,
                                                                 Jovita participated in simulations that resembled space
     to grow in every class she is eligible to take. She         missions. She learned from influential figures, including
     hopes that one day she can strengthen cyber-                one who had taken part in many trips to the ISS. The pro-
     security and fix problems in the IT field with her          gram also allowed her to continue her research of different
     skills and hard work.                                       branches of computer science.

                 Olivia D’Souza                                           Masha Drapkin
                  Bay Port High School                                      Kettle Moraine High School
                     Olivia began her STEM journey in                         Masha became interested in STEM in 7th
                     middle school as part of her robotics                    grade when she attended an educational
                    team. In high school, she took courses in                summer camp. She has attended numerous
                   computer science and was awarded the op-                 summer camps to help further her knowledge
               portunity to study Quantum Computing led by               of STEM disciplines. Masha is proud of making her
         MIT researchers and Artificial Intelligence through       FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition)’s pneumatics system
      the Mark Cuban Foundation. Attending Space Camp,          and creating a small robot at an academic summer camp.
                                                                On her FRC team, she is the Marketing President and
      Olivia fell in love with rocket science and aspires to
                                                                mentors their FIRST Lego League team. She also skated
      attend a four-year university to study aerospace engi-    for many years on the Fond Du Lac Blades. She uses her
      neering with a double major in computer science. She      skills to coach. She is involved in her school in NHS and
      would like to work in developing space flight technol-    Student Senate. She looks forward to future computer sci-
      ogies and hopes to be a part of a team that is working    ence classes and plans to attend college for a STEM-based
      towards safer and smarter engineering.                    discipline; computer science, electrical, or biomedical
                                                                engineering.

20
Grace Fan                                               Eilis Feaster
             New Berlin Eisenhower Middle/High School                 Waunakee High School

               Grace is a diligent and motivated                      Eilis, a senior at Waunakee, took
              student. She enjoys working                             Computational Thinking and Game
             independently, as well as                               Design as a freshman, and Computer
          collaborating with others. Grace is                      Science 1 & 2 as a sophomore. She took
    passionate in a variety of areas, including               IT Essentials in her junior year of high school
computer programming. Her greatest technical              as well as AP Computer Science. This directly
accomplishment is creating a code that allows             corresponds with her intended career path: game
the user to send in a picture of rock, paper, or          development, specifically on the programming
scissors, and play against the computer. As for           side of things. As such, she plans on majoring in
her future, she is firm on being open-minded,             Computer Science. Her interest in programming
and is exploring many possibilities. She wants to         was sparked when she was introduced to CSS,
use computer science and see how it can be used           and it has only become stronger since. Eilis
in different fields, such as data analysis in the         participates in forensics and cheerleading. She
medical field.                                            enjoys writing, listening to music, and drawing.

           Anya Flickinger                                           Eleanor Franke
            Oak Creek High School                                     Janesville Parker High School
              To date, Anya’s greatest                               Eleanor has been coding since
             accomplishment has been getting a                      she started using Code.org in
            Software Development Internship with
         iit-SourceTech starting her Junior year
                                                                  5th grade. She loves coding and
    of high school. She has also completed all                wants to make a career out of it one
 available computer science classes at her school         day. Her future goals are to attend college
 and has spent much of her free-time researching          at UW Madison. She wants to study how
 programming languages and techniques. After
 high school, she plans on going to a four-year           programming can be used to improve the
 college for a degree in Computer Science. She            health and safety of others. Some of her
 is excited to take on college and have a more in-        accomplishments are making a birthday
 depth learning experience with computers. Her
 dream job is to become a Software Engineer. She
                                                          notification app, coding First LEGO League
 can not see herself working in a field where she         Robots, and making Arduino projects.
 doesn’t get to work with computers every day.

            Yana Fuhrman                                            Mya Gersmeyer
             Whitefish Bay High School                               Menomonee Falls High School
              Yana, a freshman, is currently taking                   Mya’s greatest technical accomplishment
              AP Computer Science Principles. Her                    was helping create and organize different
            favorite subjects are Math and Computer                fundraisers for the MAJM Foundation through
           Science and plans to take AP Java next year.        their website to raise money to build schools for
       As part of the Math team, she represented her      women in third world countries. She plans on studying
 school in MathCounts, AMC8, and local Mathematical       Computer Science and Marketing in college at UW-
 Association of America contests. She is interested in    Madison or University of Virginia. She hopes to work
 pursuing a PhD degree in Data Science or Actuarial       for a technology consulting firm after college. After
 Science. Her dream is to become a college professor      paying off student debt, she wants to go into the Peace
 so that she can have a positive influence on many        Corp to help communities thrive with technological
 generations of students. Yana loves public speaking      advancement. In addition, Mya is the co-captain of the
 and has received many Forensics awards. She has          Debate Team, Executive Vice President of Menomonee
 strong leadership qualities and was vice-president of
                                                          Falls FBLA, and Treasurer of Key Club. She is also
 the Student Council. In addition, she attends a ballet
                                                          involved in sports and was the Captain of the Ski Team
 academy, training over 15 hours per week, and has
                                                          and Captain of the JV and Freshman Volleyball Team.
 performed in many professional ballet productions.

                                                                                                                21
2021 WISCONSIN AFFILIATE WINNERS
                  Rebecca Gilpatric                                          Shradha Godishala
                   Rufus King International High School                        Middleton High School
                    Rebecca is a senior at Rufus King                          Shradha’s greatest accomplishment
                    International Baccalaureate High School,
                   planning to major in computer science                       to date is helping small businesses
                  next year. She finds the intersection of                    during the pandemic and influencing
                math and coding especially interesting, and                people to support small businesses. In
           she hopes to eventually design software that has          the future, she hopes to attend a four-year
     physical applications. Last summer, she participated in       university studying business and computer
     a high school web development program called Code
     the Way. Through the program, she learned many new            programming. Post-college, she is planning on
     programming skills and helped to create an interactive        starting a business that is related to computer
     website for a local non-profit, the Gathering. In her free    programming in the future.
     time, Rebecca competes on her schools’ swim team
     and is training for a triathlon. She also enjoys cooking
     new foods and taking on various projects.

                  Julia Going                                                 Angela Gorton
                   Cedarburg High School                                       Ronald Reagan High School
                    Julia is a senior at Cedarburg High
                                                                               Angela is a high-energy student,
                    School. She has a passion for computer
                   science, and has taken classes such as                     currently pursuing a Full IB High
                  AP Computer Science A, Cybersecurity,                      School diploma from Ronald Reagan
               and AP Computer Science Principles to                       HIgh School. She is currently employed
         increase her knowledge. She is involved in many              as a technology intern at Northwestern
         technology related clubs, such as Girls in STEAM          Mutual, and hopes to grow her abilities and work
         and her high school’s coding club, both of which          with the highest quality in mind. Angela is a
         teach younger kids about coding and careers in            well-organized individual and is well-versed in
         STEM. She is Student Council President and the            Python and Java. She is a determined achiever
         team captain of her high school’s swim team.
                                                                   who will make a positive impact on the world
         Next year, she plans to attend college and major
                                                                   with top-notch communication, public speaking,
         in chemical engineering with a minor in computer
         science.                                                  teamwork, and critical thinking skills.

                  Shubh Goyal                                                 Elise Grandbois
                    Shorewood High School                                      Ronald Reagan High School
                     Shubh is a sophomore at Shorewood                          Elise is a sophomore student at Ronald
                     High School and loves computer                            Reagan International Baccalaureate
                    programming. She has taken AP
                                                                              High School. She has maintained a 4.0
                 Computer Science A test and college
              courses in Java, data structures, and discrete
                                                                           throughout her high school career. Elise
       mathematics. Shubh completed online Math courses            takes great interest in STEM-related courses.
       offered by “Art of Problem Solving”. She qualified          She holds a high work ethic, especially focusing
       for state level MathCounts contests in 6th, 7th and         to maintain creativity, and to go above and beyond
       8th grades. During 8th grade, she achieved a top            what’s normally asked. Elise plans on going into
       ten finish in the state level MathCounts with her           a STEM or STEAM related career in the future.
       school team finishing at 4th place. In 2019, Shubh
       participated in the Young Scholars Program, a camp
                                                                   She has worked through the pandemic to make
       designed for the mathematically talented, at the            the shift into a digital lifestyle but has taken things
       University of Chicago. In freshman year, she received       a step further to not only digitize what’s necessary
       the Maryam Mirzakhani Award as one of the top 5             but also enjoy her hobbies. Elise looks forward
       female scorers in Wisconsin for the AMC 10 math             to what creativity and technology can bring to the
       contest.                                                    future!

22
Caroline Gruber                                             Paige Guttmann
             Whitefish Bay High School                                    Sheboygan Falls High School
                                                                           Paige, a junior, is involved in Cross
              Caroline is a Junior at Whitefish Bay High
                                                                          Country, Track, Robotics, Forensics,
             School. She participates in several activities
                                                                          Drama, Girl Scouts, and is a member of
            including Model UN, Robotics, Bay Gives
          Back, and serves on the Principal’s Advisory                  National Honor Society and Spanish National
       Committee for her high school. Caroline has spent             Honor Society. Engineering, science, and math
several years on robotics teams and founded a team to         have been her primary interests since middle school
enhance and promote STEM. She initiated a Girls Who           science. She continues to take engineering and CAD
Code club. She was an intern for The Commons and              courses to expand upon her knowledge of engineering
created an online web application for local renters. She      and technology and participates on Roboriot Team
earned the Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award          3418 as part of the CAD sub-team. She has learned
for helping disadvantaged youth. She has maintained a         programs such as AutoCad and SolidWorks and has
high honor roll and has earned the NCWIT honorary and         earned her CSWA certification. Paige attended ProCSI
state awards in consecutive years. Caroline plans to study    2019 at UW-Madison, is finishing her Girl Scout Gold
Computer Science and Biology in college. She enjoys           Award and is looking forward to attending Advanced
skating on a national competitive synchronized skating        Space Academy later this summer. After graduating
team and ice dancing.                                         college, Paige wants to pursue a career in Engineering.

              Anila Hossain                                              Allyson Jahn
               New Berlin Eisenhower Middle/High School                   Menomonee Falls High School
              Anila’s love for technology piqued at                        Allyson is a high school senior and
             a very young age. Growing up, she                            is excited to study computer science
            was an avid gamer. While playing The
                                                                        in college next year. She also enjoys
          Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on
      her Nintendo 3DS back in 2012, she always                      art and is looking forward to combining
 wondered how she was able to save Hyrule by                  her technical and creative skills together in her
 simply moving a joystick and tapping buttons.                future career path. She has prepared herself in
 After exploring several computer science courses             high school with challenging classes in computer
 at her high school, Anila was able to understand
                                                              programming, computer design, cyber security,
 the “magic trick” behind all her favorite video
 games. Now, as the first woman in her family                 as well as advanced STEM classes. She is an avid
 with a passion for computer science, Anila will              rock climber and golfer.
 dedicate hard work to become a role model and
 inspire young “gamer girls” to explore the world of
 technology.

             Hayley Jamiola                                             Kaj Jensen
               New Berlin Eisenhower Middle/High School                   Waunakee High School
                Hayley is a current senior looking to                      Kaj, a junior at Waunakee, was first
                enter a computer engineering career.                      drawn to the STEM world through
               Her interest in technology began after her
                                                                         the media. Growing up, she admired
            first computer-related class, The Wheel,
         which included graphic design, hardware                      Tony Stark, who could create intricate
  engineering, and simple coding. Since then, she has         machinery from scraps, and who was seen as
  continued her technology education. Additionally, she       a hero for his capabilities. Hands-on creation
  completed a four-week boot camp the summer of               always interested her, and she pursued that
  2019 at Northwestern Mutual; this camp was followed         throughout her high school career. Technology
  up with an internship opportunity for the remainder         and the arts are pathways that greatly interest
  of the summer. In April 2020, she was asked to join
  a different team to help mentor the students of the
                                                              her, and Kaj took many of the classes offered at
  2020 hi Tech Minicamp through Northwestern Mutual.          her school. Kaj’s future plans are to attend UW-
  She remains on that team developing a full-stack            Madison, although she has not yet decided on a
  application for company use. Hayley is committed            field of study.
  to Marquette University to pursue a Computer
  Engineering major in the fall of 2021.

                                                                                                                   23
2021 WISCONSIN AFFILIATE WINNERS
                Ava Jorgensen                                                 Isabelle Kramar
                 Brookfield Central High School                                 Homestead High School
                   Ava is a senior at Brookfield Central                       Isabelle is a Senior at Homestead.
                   High School. She has been exploring her                     For as long as she can remember she
                  technology passion for several years and                    has had a strong passion for technology
                plans to continue in college with majors in                and computers. Isabelle was a member
            computer science and animation. Recently, Ava
                                                                     of Girls Who Code, has attended many coding
     has participated in and initiated several coding programs
     aimed at inspiring young girls to enter STEM. She is glad     camps, and taught coding to younger girls. Beyond
     to provide support for others like her mentors did for her.   Computer Science, Isabelle also loves to play her
     Last summer, Ava was involved in the web development          two instruments; piano and cello. She participated
     program Code the way which provides real life experience      (pre-COVID) in the Milwaukee Youth Symphony
     to high school students while developing software for         Orchestra and various ensembles. In addition
     a local non-profit organization. She was able to gain         to playing her instruments, Isabelle composes
     experience with problem solving, communication, and           music. She hopes to continue creating music in
     time management while also developing her coding              many different ways along with keeping up with
     abilities. Ava enjoys creating art and participating in her
                                                                   her love of computers and technology.
     school stage crew program.

                   Lily Kriegel                                                Laura Kromm
                    Whitefish Bay High School                                   Shiocton High School
                     Lily is a 9th grader with a desire to                      Laura is a Senior at Shiocton High
                    develop innovative technologies that will                   School. Laura has always been
                   impact disease diagnosis and treatment                      interested in technology and strives to
                  as a physician -scientist. Lily has taken                  be one of the best female IT professionals.
              advantage of STEM opportunities at school                    As a freshman, Laura was hired to help
     including coding, robotics, and Destination Imagination.        her school’s IT department provide technology
                                                                   maintenance and assist staff with technology issues,
     She was selected to participate in a community-based          among other duties. Her most impressive projects
     gifted and talented and is currently taking AP JAVA. She      were running Ethernet cables from a server closet
     plans to apply for summer internships that will provide       to a computer lab and setting up over 30 computers,
     additional coding knowledge. She is a competitive             including configuration, imaging, etc. Laura also
     distance runner for her school cross country and track        attends Fox Valley Technical College where she is
     team. Lily plans to attend a science-focused university       working on an associate’s degree as an Information
     and then a MD/PhD program. She thinks blending her            Security Specialist. In the future, Laura wants to
     interests in math, science, coding, and healthcare will       become a computer forensics analyzer. She hopes to
     allow her to make innovations in imaging while helping        assist the FBI in finding criminals and help families
                                                                   get justice for their loved ones.
     patients as a radiologist or cardiovascular surgeon.

                   Kiara Lamb                                                  Alex Lange
                    Seymour High School                                         Mukwonago High School
                     Kiara, a top student of the 2021 class at                   Alex is a sophomore in high school who
                     Seymour High School, found her love                        likes to make a positive difference. She
                    of Computer Science in 6th grade during                    enjoys computer programming, dance, and
                  an after-school Girls Who Code program.                    volunteering. Alex is a part of several clubs
              Curiosity drove her to continue to challenge               and sports including Student Government, Varsity
         herself in her high school’s Computer Science             Dance, IT Academy, Global Certificate, SAVE, Key Club,
     Principles, PC Hardware, and Mobile App Development           and International Club. She took Intro to Computer
     classes. Even during her summer free time, she                Programming this past year which focused on Python.
     pursued more learning opportunities through online            This year, she is taking Graphic Design I. Alex plans to
     courses about Big Data and C++/HTML. Along the way            continue computer classes through the IT Academy.
     she has earned several certifications, including Cisco’s      She hopes to become either a computer programmer
     IT Essentials and Microsoft Office Word Specialist, and       or an app/website designer and plans on attending
     has placed 4th nationally in FBLA’s competitive event         college. Alex is someone who people go to for advice
     Help Desk. Moving forward, she hopes to pursue a              on technology. She is willing to help and loves to solve
     degree in IT where she can combine her soft skills with       problems. Her favorite computer projects include
     newly learned technical ones.                                 coding, designing, and debugging/solving problems.

24
Siya Mahajan                                                Eloise Massee
            Menomonee Falls High School                                 Bay Port High School
              Siya is a junior in high school, also an                  Eloise is currently a sophomore at
             aspiring computer scientist. Technology                    Bay Port High School in Green Bay,
            has been all around her from the time she                 Wisconsin. She is passionate about math,
          was born, even more so because her father                 computer science, volunteering, dancing,
     is a software engineer. Coupling this with the first    running, and adventuring. She has been the
time she ever wrote a program in Visual Basic, she
                                                            programmer for her VEX IQ and VRC Robotics teams
was hooked. Since then she has pursued this field
                                                            for the past three years, and enjoys the challenge of
by taking AP Computer Science Principles in order to
broaden her horizons, and is planning to pursue this        coding the autonomous portion of the competition.
career in college as well. She hopes to tackle some of      She also participates in cross country, youth service
the world’s biggest problems through technology and         learning, math club, DECA, wind ensemble and
to help as many people as possible throughout the           marching band, and is a volunteer math tutor. In
process. She realizes her journey has just begun and        the future, Eloise hopes to study both math and
cannot wait to see what the future may hold for her!        computer science in college.

              Noelle May                                               Aniyah McDonald
               Menomonee Falls High School                              Milwaukee Excellence Charter School
               Noelle’s greatest technical                              Aniyah is a sophomore attending
               accomplishment has been working                          Milwaukee Excellence Charter School as
              as a beta tester for ICE-Sat2 the App (a                a 4.0 student. She started her interest in
           NASA project). She also prides herself with             computing when she discovered coding on
       building homemade robots and teaching herself        Khanacademy.org. Now, she takes an AP computer
  the basics of computer programming; built off prior       science class that is both free and engaging. With
  knowledge in a computer programming course.               technology she is making digital art and future
  Noelle is an active member of Robotics, Math Club,
                                                            dress-up games for creative kids. Although she
  and is a teaching assistant in a physics course at
                                                            wants to work in psychology, she wants to include
  her high school. The next step for Noelle is attending
  college where she wants to study aerospace
                                                            computer science in her future career plans. Using
  engineering and physics; from there she imagines          computers and technology, she hopes to start
  she will work in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for        getting into modding for games like The Sims 4 or
  NASA where she will build anything from satellites, to    Minecraft.
  rovers, to spacecrafts.

              Lisa Miguel                                              Divya Pandey
               Janesville Parker High School                            University School of Milwaukee
             Lisa is a Junior at Parker High                              Divya, a junior at University School of
             School in Janesville. She is a 2 year                       Milwaukee, played chess her whole
            Aspirations Wisconsin awardee. She                         life and represented the US Chess Team.
          was interested in computer science                        Whenever she reviewed her games with her
     since she was young and has been using                 chess coaches, she was deeply fascinated by the
  computers ever since. She first discovered                complexity of the chess engines. The coding behind
  her interest in coding in elementary school               the engine captivated Divya. In 6th grade, she had
  when she joined her first-ever coding club. She           her first exposure to coding through Mindstorm bots.
  continues to learn programming languages                  As a junior, Divya took AP Computer Science and
  and has taken many computer programming                   currently takes CSP. As she furthered her knowledge
  classes throughout her high school journey.               in Computer Science, Divya founded a club for girls
  She continues to improve her skill by making              in STEM and coded a game for her science fair
  mods for Minecraft and other games. She plans             project. In the future she plans on pursuing genetic
  to pursue a career in Computer Science and                engineering, combining her passions of technology
  Engineering.                                              and biology.

                                                                                                                    25
2021 WISCONSIN AFFILIATE WINNERS
               Srishrika Pattaswamy                                        Ava Quirk
                 New Berlin Eisenhower Middle/High School                    Ronald Reagan High School
                 Srishrika is a senior with a passion for                    Ava is an accomplished student at
                 programming. She loves to code and                          Ronald Reagan High School. She had
                                                                           a 4.0 GPA her freshman year and has
               is a part of the Competitive Intelligence                 carried it into her sophomore year. She
           team. Srishrika loves math and science.                  looks forward to continuing it for future years
                                                                at Reagan. Ava plans on attending college and
     She is a HOSA leader for her school’s chapter.
                                                                studying in either a medical or science related
     Srishrika plans on majoring in Biology and                 field. She hopes that her future job involves
     Computer Programming. She would like to learn              problem solving and aspects of technology. She
                                                                hopes that her career and future goals benefit
     different programming languages and more
                                                                those that are in her community and help make
     efficient ways to code.                                    the lives of people around her better.

                   Claire Roca                                              Lindsey Roeschli
                    Arise Virtual Academy                                    Janesville Parker High School
                    Claire was first interested in computer                  Lindsey, a senior at Parker High
                    science and technology when she learned                 School, has a strong passion
                  of all the possibilities that it possesses.              for computers and technology.
                She is currently a high school senior and                Her interests began when she took
            has taken several college level Computer                 programming 1 and 2 as a freshman. After
     Science courses. During Claire’s junior year she           discovering it was one of her favorite subjects,
     passed both her AP Computer Science-Java class and         Lindsey has wanted to make her knowledge
     an online UW Green-Bay HTML/Javascript class. As
                                                                in the field more advanced. When she took her
                                                                classes to the next level, she began going to
     of now she is taking, and passing, her TC Advanced         programming competitions. Lindsey enjoyed
     Computer Science - Java class and her UW-Whitewater        the MSOE programming competition and will
     Problem Solving and Programming Techniques in              continue to attend them while still in high
     C++ class. After graduation, Claire plans on attending     school. Lindsey is also part of her school’s
     UW-Milwaukee or MSOE for a bachelor’s degree in            volleyball, gymnastics, and soccer teams. Her
     Computer Science and wants to gain experience as a         favorite pastimes are to play the guitar and be
     computer programmer. In the future Claire plans to         with her family. Lindsey plans on pursuing a
     pursue the career of a video game developer.               career in computer and technology.

                  Sarah Rubenstein                                          Katyara Russell
                    Brookfield Central High School                           Sun Prairie High School
                   Sarah has been coding since the                             Katyara has participated in a variety of
                   third grade. She’s gone to many                            technology events. From fiddling with
                  coding clubs and camps over the                           computers at home to working in the
                years and has finished AP Computer                        technology department for her high school,
            Science at her high school and Data                      she’s had a vast amount of experience. For three
     Structures at Marquette. Since July 2020, Sarah            years she’s participated in CyberPatriot, a cyber security
     has been working with web development as a                 competition sponsored by the Air Force Association.
     tech intern at Northwestern Mutual. This year              This season she took the lead to drive her fellow club
                                                                members to success. After high school, Katyara plans
     she’s one of the Programming Leads for her
                                                                to utilize her cyber security skills by joining the US
     district’s FRC Robotics Team. She’s volunteered            Marine Corps. She has dreamed of making a difference
     at a tech club for girls (Divas in Technology),            and fighting for her country since she can remember.
     which was started by one of her friends. In the            She pursues her passions until she’s achieved them.
     future, Sarah plans to attend college and major            Katyara’s living her life to be the best version of herself
     in a Computer Science related field.                       so she can influence the world for the better.

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