Holland College's Computer Information Systems program (former Business Information Technology (BIT) program) recently hosted the 4th Annual PEI High School Programming Competition. Participating high schools included Bluefield, Charlottetown Rural, Colonel Gray and Westisle. Seven teams, totaling 14 students, competed in the event. The top 3 winning teams were:

1st Place ~ Nicholas Kennedy and Peter Workman, from Colonel Gray Senior High
2nd Place ~ Nick MacAulay and Charles Waddell, from Charlottetown Rural High School
3rd Place ~ Jonathan Stewart and Marc Blanchard, from Bluefield High School

Designed to foster an interest in computer programming and problem solving and to encourage P.E.I. high school students who have an interest and ability in these areas, the competition was a great opportunity for young people of like interests and abilities. In an atmosphere of friendly competitiveness students wrote computer programs to implement the solutions to problems of varying levels of difficulty. All teams completed at least 7 of the 10 programs (up from last year), with some teams completing all 10 programs in the allotted 2 hours.

"The level of programming skills and interest in our high school students today is incredible," said Gerald Caissy, Competition Coordinator and Programming Instructor at Holland College. “This competition enables the students to match their skills in an enjoyable way against other students from across the Province. The competition also allows us at Holland College to let these students know how we can help them further develop their skills in this area.”

Judges Steven Bishop, a Senior Systems Analyst at CGI, and Donnie McKinnon, a Programmer/Analyst at Deltaware Systems, were very impressed with both the amount and quality of work the students were able to accomplish in the short time allotted. "The competition participants demonstrated exceptionally strong skill levels with regards to writing programs,” stated Donnie McKinnon.

The first place team received $500, second place $200 and third place $100. Colonel Gray, the winning school, also takes home a $500 cash prize, bragging rights and a school trophy for display, highlighting their current accomplishments in computer programming at the high school level in P.E.I.!