Clonakilty student is awarded top coding prize

A STUDENT from Sacred Heart Secondary School, Clonakilty, took home one of the top prizes a national coding competition.

Claire Foyle received one of the judge’s awards in the national scratch coding competition for her project ‘Unknown Tourist Attractions’.

This year saw over 160 entries nationwide to the competition. Now in its 12th year, competition has established itself among both teachers and students as a leading platform and showcase for Ireland’s aspiring digital creators. The competition is run by the Irish Computer Society, the representative body for IT professionals in Ireland and Lero, the SFI Research Centre for Software. Awards were provided by AWS In Communities, a programme of Amazon Web Services.

Frank Mockler of the Irish Computer Society said: ‘Events like the national Scratch competition allow Ireland’s upcoming cohort of digital creators to demonstrate their critical thinking, their creativity, and their innovation. We need to make sure that young people see the value and potential of technology and learn to own and control it. Some of the participants today may go on to be the IT professionals of tomorrow – but even if they don’t, we hope that taking part has helped them develop new skills and become empowered digital citizens.’