CARY, NC (bdpatoday) —National BDPA’s South Regional High School computer Competition (HSCC) was held on Saturday, June 25th in Cary, NC. The meeting was co-hosted by National BDPA’s Triangle Chapter and MetLife in the MetLife Building.

Four teams participated in this year’s South Regional HSCC. BDPA’s defending National HSCC Champions from their Atlanta Chapter, led by HSCC coordinator Francisco Nunez, won the top seed in the South’s 2016 HSCC Regionals. Second place was captured by BDPA’s Triangle HSCC Team from Raleigh-Durham, NC, led by coordinator Latish Scarborough.

In addition, to computer competitions, students participated in multiple career building and skills enhancement developed and presented by Candice Brown from MetLife. In the afternoon, BDPA Members, regional IT professionals, and members of the Black Professional Network (BPN) from MetLife, jointly participated in presentations with visiting teams.

In the morning sessions, Student Members engaged in inclusion exercises outlined below.

– Who are We?
Students and Professionals participated in simple icebreaker activities to become better acquainted with those from other teams

– Career Interviews

Students paired off with professionals for an interactive mentoring session where student members interviewed IT professionals about their current career paths

– Picture Me

In small groups , students performed a short skit and demonstrated ‘A day in the Life’ of their preferred IT professional to the larger group. In smaller groups, other professionals performed a short skit and demonstrated what NOT to do in corporate and professional environments to the larger groups.

Ms. Markita Payne, Director, National BDPA South Region, addressed both audiences; students in the morning, and BPN attendees in the afternoon.  Mr. Mike Williams, National BDPA’s President, welcomed the students via video.

— Source: BDPA Triangle Chapter