Huntley High School senior Shefali Sharma has been recognized among the top high school women in computing by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT).
The NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Team annually recognizes high school women in grades 9-12 for their their demonstrated interest and achievements in computing, proven leadership ability, academic performance, and plans for post‑secondary education. This year, Sharma was among 400 winners and honorable mentions selected from more than 4,300 applicants.
“From over 4,300 applications this year, Shefali’s application truly stood out,” the Center stated in its announcement.
In addition to recognition on aspirations.org, Sharma received a trophy for the school to display.
“Shefali has continually shown she is not only very good at programming, but also very passionate about it,” said Michelle Zietlow, an HHS computer science teacher who has had Sharma in a number of classes. “She does whatever she can to improve her own coding skills and helps other students develop their own passions in the field as well.”
Sharma has taken AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles, and Advanced Computer Science Topics. Among her independent projects in those courses has been the development of an online agenda she hopes students will be able to use to track their assignments rather than using a paper version.
She also is a member of the VEX Robotics and Science Olympiad Teams, both of which enable her to use her coding skills. The HHS Robotics Team recently qualified for State competition. She also has volunteered at the Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science (GEMS) events hosted by HHS, helping young girls learn coding and robotics programming.
Learn more at aspirations.org or by following hashtag #NCWITAiC19 and @NCWIT on Twitter.
