All Region Coding Competition Top 16

Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the Arkansas Department of Education today announced the 17 teams advancing to the Sixth Annual All-State Coding Competition on April 30, 2022.
“Congratulations to the 17 teams that qualified for the Sixth Annual All-State Coding Competition,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said. “Though this will be the last year that I am governor for this competition, I am proud that our state has established this as a valuable tradition for students, sponsors, and schools that has grown each year in participation and that I hope will continue into the next administration. I am extremely impressed with the talent level of the student participants, and I look forward to meeting the 17 All-State teams in person on April 30.”
Each member of the first-place team will receive a $2,000 award that will be deposited into a 529 College Savings Plan. Each member of the second-place team will receive a $1,000 award deposited into a 529 College Savings Plan, with each member of the third-place team receiving a $500 award deposited into a 529 College Savings Plan. In addition, the schools that register/sponsor the first-place, second-place, and third-place teams will receive $10,000, $6,000, and $4,000, respectively, to support their computer science programs. The prizes and competition expenses are provided by a grant from ARCodeKids.
The following teams have been selected to advance to the All-State Coding Competition:

  • Arkansas High School in Texarkana - Brodie Gholson, Matthew Hughes, and Joshua Sharpe sponsored by Therron Telford
  • Arkansas School for the Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts - David Clark, Joshua Stallings, and Robert Boerwinkle sponsored by Nicholas Seward
  • Bentonville High School - Caleb Jones, Sarah Palmer, and Kate Pearce sponsored by Maud King
  • Bentonville West High School - Karina Batra and Ryder Johnson sponsored by Nate Vogel
  • Cabot High School - Christopher Sayers and Tyler Baugus sponsored by Michael Calvert
  • Conway High School - Ellie Feng, Arnav Karekar, and Evan Tan sponsored by Kimberly Raup
  • Don Tyson School of Innovation in Springdale - Lucas Kellar, Dylan Crawford, and Eli Wetzel sponsored by Jessica Mabie
  • Fayetteville High School - Keming Meng and Taksh Patel sponsored by Emery Faulkner
  • Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville - June Simmons, Grace Harding, and Britton Adair sponsored by Margaret Cotton
  • Haas Hall Academy in Rogers - Austin Parker, Ivan Freeman, and Winston Bounsavy sponsored by Amy Schwartz
  • Har-Ber High School in Springdale - Matthew Crecelius, Nicholas Byrd, and William Cherry sponsored by Tiffany Abner
  • Hot Springs World Class High School - Josiah Rubio, Jin Gamada, and Jude Phillips sponsored by Vince Mathews
  • Lisa Academy West High School in Little Rock - Harlem Taylor, Harith Hayyawi, and Hayati Sahin sponsored by Clarissa Harpool
  • Little Rock Central High School - Ethan Dunn, Aiden Jones, and Brent Orlina sponsored by Stephany Alhajjaj and Kimberly Mayberry
  • Mountain Home High School - Darren Blount, Emmanuel Westra, and Dallin Stephens sponsored by J. R. Bergenstock
  • Rogers High School - Adrian Salazar, Nicholas Robinson, and Matthew Wilkinson sponsored by Jeff Anderson
  • Star City High School - Reid Dutton, Tony Chen, and James West sponsored by Amy Dreher

The All-Region Coding Competition was a digital event that took place on Feb. 25, 2022. More than 150 teams participated in the regional event and were scored by the ADE Office of Computer Science team using a common rubric and process. That process determined the top 16 teams to be invited to participate in the state-level event. The school that produced the first-place team at the state competition in 2021, the Don Tyson School of Innovation in Springdale, which also was the winner in 2020, received an automatic invitation to send a team to the state competition.